Russia opens black box of jet downed by Turkey

“The same day, the Turkish leadership confirmed the fact of the use of weapons by a Turkish Air Force fighter to destroy the Russian plane, alleging in explanation that it violated Turkish airspace”, Dronov said.

Journalists can watch live images of the process in the hall of the Interstate Aviation Committee, a supervising body overseeing the management of civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

“They cross the borders freely and establish direct contacts with the leaders of the ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – the former name of IS) and agree on deals”, Churkin said.

Russian Federation today (Dec 18) began examining the black box of its warplane that was shot down over Turkey’s border with Syria, again contesting Ankara’s claim it had violated Turkish airspace.

“The commission will discuss the situation calling upon worldwide observers”, he added. The incidents came within a few days of the start of Russia’s air campaign in Syria on September 30 and led to global condemnation.

“In any case the downed Russian Su-24 bomber jet was of no threat to Turkey and its citizens”, Sergei Dronov said.

Moscow and Ankara are locked in a bitter spat over Turkey’s shooting down of Russian Su-24 jet on November 24, killing two Russian officers and sparking a furious war of words as well as economic sanctions from the Kremlin.

Dronov said the black box presented to the public on Friday had not been touched since it was recovered from the crash site.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the military to open the black box in the presence of foreign specialists.

“We will continue to augment Turkey’s air defenses with defensive anti-missile systems”, the official said.

While the United States supports Ankara, citing a lack of any solid evidence, Moscow blames Washington for being involved in a “cover-up”.