On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during an address at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC that Turkey and Russia needed to reestablish relations because they were two important countries that share common interests.
"I am not going to guess in this case, whether or not it is an attempt. I can only say one thing that it is absolutely clear that the Russian side was waiting for [excuses] from Ankara after the incident. This refers to the death of our pilot after our plane was brought down by the Turkish Air Force. This has not been done so far. And in this direction, to the point, the slightest hint hasn’t been made," Peskov stated, commenting on whether any attempts were made to improve Moscow-Ankara soured relations.
Earlier on Friday, the Turkish authorities confirmed the arrest of Alparslan Celikm the alleged killer of one of the pilots of the Russian jet downed by Turkey.
Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov was reportedly killed by rebel gunfire from the ground after he ejected from his Su-24 warplane downed by a Turkish F-16 fighter jet, while another pilot was rescued.
