MOSCOW — Turkey recovered the body of a Russian pilot from northern Syria and presented it to Russian diplomats Sunday, five days after shooting down his warplane in an incident that wrecked relations between two of the main powers involved in Syria’s war.
A coffin carrying Oleg Peshkov arrived by ambulance on the tarmac of Hatay Airport in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, a Reuters photographer said.
It was flown to Turkey’s capital, Ankara, where, according to Russia’s RIA news agency, it was met at an airfield by Moscow’s ambassador and military attache. The Russian embassy declined to comment and Turkish officials did not immediately disclose when the body would be repatriated to Russia.
The shooting down of the Russian fighter jet by NATO-member Turkey, the first-known incident of its kind since the Cold War, has set back efforts to forge a united front against Islamic State in the weeks since militant group claimed responsibility for mass killings in Paris and blowing up a Russian airliner.
Moscow has responded towards Ankara with fury, calling the episode a pre-planned provocation. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Saturday imposing punitive economic sanctions against Turkey. Details of Turkish goods that will be banned and other measures under the decree are expected to be announced in coming days.
Turkey says Peshkov’s plane was in its airspace and had ignored repeated warnings when it was shot down. Russia says it was flying over Syria and was struck unprovoked.
The navigator of the two-seat jet survived but another Russian service member was killed rescuing him from northern Syria.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutgolu said Sunday that Peshkov’s body had arrived in Turkey overnight, but gave no further details of how it was recovered or brought across the border.
Turkey is part of a coalition of countries led by the United States that has been bombing Islamic State positions in both Syria and Iraq, while also calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
Russia, which supports Assad, launched a separate bombing campaign against Assad’s opponents nearly two months ago. While it says it is also targeting Islamic State, most of its airstrikes have been against other Assad opponents, including groups actively supported by Turkey.
Davutoglu called for more military cooperation to prevent future incidents.
“Communication and coordination in Syria operations is needed in order to prevent further incidents because two different coalition groups are conducting operations in Syrian airspace always risk leading to similar incidents,” he said before getting on a plane to Brussels for a meeting on the migrant crisis with European Union leaders. He also accused Russia of using anti-Islamic State operations as a pretext to help Assad.
Russia has not eased its bombing campaign since Peshkov’s plane was shot down Tuesday. On Sunday, airstrikes believed to have been carried out by Russian jets killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens more in the town of Ariha in northwest Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict.
Turkey is a major customer of Russian natural gas exports and a big destination for Russian tourists. Russia buys Turkish exports, including produce, having already banned food from the U.S. and EU in retaliation for financial sanctions imposed over Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine.
Putin signed a decree imposing a raft of punitive economic sanctions against Turkey on Saturday, underlining the depth of the Kremlin’s anger towards Ankara since Peshkov’s plane was shot down.
The decree, which entered into force immediately, said charter flights from Russia to Turkey would be banned, that tour firms would be told not to sell any holidays there, that unspecified Turkish imports would be outlawed and Turkish firms and nationals have their economic activities halted or curbed.
Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Sunday that Moscow would not boycott international sporting events held in Turkey, but would require maximum security and would limit training trips by Russian athletes there, RIA reported.
Turkey is one of the neighbors most affected by the 4-year-old civil war in Syria, having hosted 2 million refugees, while calling loudly for the downfall of Assad. It has been angered by the Russian military campaign in Syria, complaining in particular in recent weeks about Moscow’s targeting of ethnic Turkmen rebels in the border area, who are close kin with Turks.
Pro-government newspaper Sabah Daily reported that Turkey had tightened security along its border with Syria Saturday, deploying additional tanks, armored personnel vehicles and other weapons. A Turkish official said he could not confirm this.