Russia demands that Turkey catch Turkish citizen who shot and killed Russian pilot
MOSCOW. Dec 30 (Interfax) - Russia has demanded that the Turkish authorities prosecute Turkish citizen Akpersalan Chelik, who shot and killed the commander of the Sukhoi Su-24 plane downed by the Turkish Air Force over the territory of Syria on November 24, 2015, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary.
"We demand that the Turkish authorities take urgent measures to catch Chelik and his accomplices and subject them to criminal liability for killing the Russian pilot, and also for fighting on the side of an illegal military group on the territory of a foreign country," the commentary says.
An interview with Chelik, a citizen of Turkey, in which he expressly admits his direct involvement in the killing of the Russian pilot, was published in the December 27 edition of the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. It clearly follows from the publication that the Turkish militant has been fighting on the side of an illegal military group in Syria for the past two years.
"It is surprising and outrageous that one of the leading Turkish newspapers has virtually given a tribune to a murderer and a terrorist to boast in the crimes he has committed and to spread a nationalist ideology full of hatred of Russia and Russian people," the document says.
The document states that "it is telling that no comments on this interview have come from the Turkish authorities yet." "We demand that the Turkish administration evaluate the actions and statements by its citizen, who has admitted to committing an international crime, which is the killing of the pilot of a foreign country's Air Force," the commentary says.
The document says that "it is time to say what is the official position of Ankara on Turkish citizens' participation in military action on the side of extremist illegal armed groups in the territory of the neighboring state."
