The Middle Eastern state released an audio clip of the call of warning
Image: The Independent
Moscow, Ankara: After being downed by a Turkish missile, only one of the two pilots of a Russian SU-24 bomber warplane was salvaged. As the warplane jetted down onto Syrian soil, one pilot, Lt Col Oleg Peshkov, was gunned down as he parachuted out of the burning plane. However, the Turkish authorities claimed to have warned the pilots preemptively and they even released an audio note of the warning that was issued.
The voice was heard to have said in English,” Change your heading south immediately.”
The rescued Captain Konstantin Murakhtin denied having received any admonition from the Turkish airbase, while the Turks said that they had issued 10 of them. Moreover, the Captain refused claims that they had violated Turkish airspace. Said the surviving Captain that he was ‘very well’ familiarized with the region that there was ‘no way’ that the jet could have been in Turkish airspace ‘even for a second’. The Captain was evacuated from a rebel-hit territory in Syria by Russian and Syrian special forces, through a 12-hour effort, wherein a Russian marine was killed and a helicopter devastated by rebels. He was then safely brought back to the Hmeymim airbase, where Russian airbase is located. Turkey even claimed to have been in contact with the Russian military while deploying warnings.
The warplane, that crashed into a Syrian mountainside, was escorting bombers for airstrikes in Syria. Russia has been conducting air strikes in Syria since September of this year, in support of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey is in opposition of the leader. turkey is a part of The Allies in the US-led coalition, fighting the Islamic State in the same region. Amidst this already straining diplomatic relation, the warplane incident comes as mounting tensions between the two countries. President of Russia, Vladimir Putin has called it a ‘stab in the back’ and threatened of ‘serious consequences’. Moscow declined all contacts between its military and that of Ankara.
On the other hand, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan justified the military’s action,” everyone must respect the right of Turkey to protect its borders.” Although the UN, Us and the EU have appealed for peace on the issue, the NATO, which Turkey is a member of has supported Turkey’s perspective on the events. Even then, it has requested ‘ diplomacy and de-escalation’ and resolving the problem.
Turkey has portrayed its readiness for ‘ all kinds of co-operation’ with Russia on the issue.
Source: BBC
Tags: Russia Russian warplane Turkey
