ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—More than half of Turks believe Ankara was right to shoot down a Russian jet near the Syrian border last November.
In a nation-wide survey conducted by Kadir Has University, 58.2 percent of respondents said the incident was a positive thing. And 57.6 percent said it “showed that Turkey was a big country.”
On November 24, 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 jet flying in the Turkey-Syria border area using an air-to-air missile.
Both pilot and navigator ejected. Turkmen rebels opened fire on the parachuting crew and the pilot, Lt. Col. Oleg Peshkov, was killed by the gunfire.
The navigator, Capt. Konstantin Murakhtin, was rescued by Syrian government forces. A Russian marine, sent in on a helicopter rescue mission, was also killed.
Turkey claimed that the jet had invaded its airspace for 17 seconds and was warned ten times to change direction. Russia maintains that the aircraft was in Syrian airspace, one kilometer from the border, when it was hit, saying that the aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace and did not receive any warnings.
In the days after the incident, Alparslan Çelik, a Turkish citizen and member of a Turkmen rebel group, claimed to have given the orders to shoot pilot Peshkov. He defended his actions at the time saying that the Russian pilot had dropped bombs on his brother Turkmen.
Moscow demanded Ankara arrest Çelik. He was arrested in March but the Turkish prosecutor dropped all charges against him on May 10, after he spent 37 days in custody. The prosecutor found there were no grounds to proceed with the case.
Turkey-Russia relations took a turn for the worse after the incident with Russia bringing in sanctions against Turkey, demanding an apology, which Ankara refused to give.
Turkey is still unapologetic for the incident. Last week, after the Russian basketball team CSKA Moscow beat Turkey’s Fenerbahce in a Euroleague game, Turkish politician Samil Tayyar tweeted, “I want to shoot down one more Russian jet!”
In a nation-wide survey conducted by Kadir Has University, 58.2 percent of respondents said the incident was a positive thing. And 57.6 percent said it “showed that Turkey was a big country.”
On November 24, 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 jet flying in the Turkey-Syria border area using an air-to-air missile.
Both pilot and navigator ejected. Turkmen rebels opened fire on the parachuting crew and the pilot, Lt. Col. Oleg Peshkov, was killed by the gunfire.
The navigator, Capt. Konstantin Murakhtin, was rescued by Syrian government forces. A Russian marine, sent in on a helicopter rescue mission, was also killed.
Turkey claimed that the jet had invaded its airspace for 17 seconds and was warned ten times to change direction. Russia maintains that the aircraft was in Syrian airspace, one kilometer from the border, when it was hit, saying that the aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace and did not receive any warnings.
In the days after the incident, Alparslan Çelik, a Turkish citizen and member of a Turkmen rebel group, claimed to have given the orders to shoot pilot Peshkov. He defended his actions at the time saying that the Russian pilot had dropped bombs on his brother Turkmen.
Moscow demanded Ankara arrest Çelik. He was arrested in March but the Turkish prosecutor dropped all charges against him on May 10, after he spent 37 days in custody. The prosecutor found there were no grounds to proceed with the case.
Turkey-Russia relations took a turn for the worse after the incident with Russia bringing in sanctions against Turkey, demanding an apology, which Ankara refused to give.
Turkey is still unapologetic for the incident. Last week, after the Russian basketball team CSKA Moscow beat Turkey’s Fenerbahce in a Euroleague game, Turkish politician Samil Tayyar tweeted, “I want to shoot down one more Russian jet!”
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