Turkey to hand over pilot’s body to Moscow

Ankara, November 29 

The body of a Russian pilot killed when his plane was shot down by Turkey last week will be handed over to a Russian representative after being retrieved from Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today.

"The pilot who lost his life during the air violation was received by us on the (Syrian) border last night," Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul before leaving for a meeting with EU leaders in Brussels.

Davutoglu added that a Russian official would travel "soon" to the southern Hatay region with a Turkish military official to take possession of the body.

The Russian embassy in Turkey told  the RIA Novosti news agency that Oleg Peskov's body would be flown today from Hatay in the presence of Russia's military attache to an aerodrome in Ankara where it would be met by the ambassador.

The date and time when the body would be returned to Russia was still to be confirmed, embassy spokesman Igor Mityakov was quoted as saying.

One of the two pilots aboard the plane which was downed on Tuesday was shot dead in Syria after parachuting from the burning aircraft, while the second was found safe and sound. — AFP