Body of killed Russian Federationn pilot arrives in Russia

The incident has led to heated rhetoric between the two countries, with Russian Federation announcing a package of economic sanctions against Turkey.

He did not say how the body was delivered to Hatay in southern Turkey but said Russia’s military attache was going there on Sunday as part of procedures to recover the remains.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the moves a “first step” as Moscow also said it would limit Turkish transport firms and tighten controls on construction contracts.

Lt Col Oleg Peshkov’s body was received by Turkish authorities at the Syrian border earlier in the day.

Turkey and Russian Federation have enjoyed burgeoning trade ties in recent years despite disagreements on a number of political issues from Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine to the more than four-year old civil war in Syria.

Two Turkish F-16s downed the Russian jet on November 24 alleging it had intruded into Turkish airspace.

Following his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister Davutoglu said, “No Turkish prime minister or president will apologize … because of doing our duty”.

A second Russian marine was killed during a mission to recover the surviving pilot when a rescue helicopter was hit by a rocket fired by Syrian rebels.

Russia’s government laid out yesterday more details of retaliatory economic sanctions aimed at denting Turkey’s vital tourism and agricultural sectors.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the United States has corroborated that the Russian plane violated Turkish airspace, based on evidence from Turkey and from “our own sources”.

Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev warned Ankara that Turkey’s agricultural exports could be replaced by Russia within a week, with suppliers from countries ranging from Iran to South Africa.

Davutoglu said with different coalitions operating in Syria with differing objectives, similar incidents to that of the downing of the Russian jet could happen unless there was information sharing and coordination.

Davutoglu added that “we hope Russian Federation will reconsider these measures in both our interests”, referring to the sanctions that Moscow imposed after the shooting down of the jet last week.