Body of Russian Pilot in Turkish Custody

Local Editor

Turkey's PM Ahmet Davutoglu told journalists in Ankara on Sunday that the body of the Russian pilot killed after his jet was shot down by the Turkish military a week ago has been handed over to Turkish authorities.

At Russia's request, the pilot had been given funeral rites, and his body would be handed over to Russia, Turkish Anadolu news agency reported.

The body was handed over to Turkey in the early hours of Sunday making no evidence on who had custody of the body before then.

Consequently, the two nations have been at odds since the incident that took place near the Turkey-Syria border on Tuesday, saying it had violated Turkish airspace. Russia has denied that claim.

The incident left one pilot dead; another was rescued. The countries disagree sharply on whether the Russian plane was in Turkish airspace when it was shot down, as well as whether any warnings went out to the crew.

Indeed, Russia says its planes, including the one downed, were bombing "ISIS" militants in the area.

After days of tough talk in the wake of the incident, Erdogan struck a more conciliatory tone Saturday.

He said that his government was "really saddened" by the matter, insisting that he did not want to ramp up tensions.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team