The Russian Foreign Ministry has demanded that Turkey brings to trial Alparslan Celik who confessed in an interview with Turkish media that he had participated in the murder of the Russian pilot of Su-24 downed by Turkish air forces in November.

“We demand that the Turkish authorities take immediate action to catch Alparslan Celik and his accomplices and charge them with criminal offence for killing a Russian pilot and taking part in hostilities as members of an illegal armed group in a foreign country,” Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.


Comment: Russia’s Western “partners” sure do make it easy for the Russians to expose them as the lawless freak-shows they are. Leaders with an ounce of common sense would have immediately denounced Celik’s actions and subsequent statements – even if they privately approved of them. Heck, even a fairly smart psychopath would see that doing so would be a better PR move than to tacitly sanction his actions and statements by not making a suitable reply.

Not having done so, the Russians are now in the position where it is perfectly suitable to shame Turkish leadership. By bringing attention to their lack of action, it exposes the Turks’ tacit approval of this lawless murder. That is a good PR move – on the Russians‘ part. Not only that, it’s the morally right thing to do.

Zakharova also expressed surprise and indignation that Hurriyet, a major Turkish newspaper, had given floor to the “murderer and terrorist” so that he could brag about his crime and disseminate nationalist ideology, “filled with hatred towards Russia and the Russian people.”


Comment: What is it with Western media in general providing a soapbox for terrorists and other assorted psychopaths? It seems they do that a lot…

The Russian Foreign Ministry also demanded Turkey to assess actions and statements of its citizen who confessed to an international crime – murdering a foreign pilot.

“It is high time that Ankara explains its official position regarding the participation of its citizens in hostilities on the side of extremist illegal armed groups operating in a neighboring country. Or will Turkey prefer to turn a blind eye to this issue as well?” Zakharova said.

On December, 27, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet published an interview with Alparslan Celik who spoke about the downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber by a Turkish F-16 fighter. Celik did not have any regrets – conversely, he said that the Turkmens retaliated for alleged bombings of their positions.

The Turkish authorities’ position on the downed Russian plane is also criticized by the Turkish opposition. The Republican People’s Party’s head Kemal Kılıcdaroglu condemned attempts to shift the blame for the incident on supporters of Muhammed Fethullah Gulen, a popular Muslim preacher living in the US.

Earlier the pro-government newspaper Star wrote that the Russian jet had been downed by Gulen’s supporters in the Turkish air forces who wanted to put Ankara in a predicament by causing a crisis in its relations with Russia.


Comment: This might not be so crazy. (See Joe Quinn’s Always the last to know: Did Turkish government find out about shoot-down of Russian jet after the fact?) But rather than publicly admit the presence of a NATO-backed fifth column within their own midst, Turkish officials took the blame on themselves. Unfortunately for them, now they just look inconsistent and weak, which is possibly what they were trying to avoid by taking responsibility in the first place.

“What happened? They [Turkish authorities] said that they had ordered to down the plane. The agencies even contradicted each other on which one did that. Now they say they are sorry – that was the military. Even not the military now, but Gulen. Do you give any thought to what you say? How does your conscience let you play with people in such a way?” Kılıcdaroglu said in the Turkish parliament.