MOSCOW, November 2 (RAPSI) – The Turkish authorities have requested Russia to provide the proof of guilt with regard to Alparslan Celik, who had earlier claimed responsibility for the murder of Oleg Peshkov, the pilot of Russian Su-24 bomber downed by the Turkish Air Force in Syria, RIA Novosti news agency reports on Wednesday, citing Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

“If Russia has any documents in its disposal, our prosecutors would ask to provide them,” he said. According to Cavusoglu, this evidence, if presented by Russia, would form the grounds on which investigators could pursue the case.

The Minister added that Celik himself confirmed that he had murdered the pilot. “Certainly, from a legal perspective that remains to be proved yet,” he said, mentioning that at the moment Celik’s lawyers denied the fact. Nevertheless, Cavusoglu maintained, Celik was detained in conjunction with the totality of charges brought against him and investigation of these charges was currently underway.

The incident occurred on November 24, 2015. The Russian plane was allegedly downed by an air-to-air missile fired by a Turkish F-16C fighter. Two pilots managed to eject from the plane. Peshkov was killed by ground fire from militants when parachuting, his navigator survived. Another serviceman, marine Alexander Pozynich, was killed during the rescue mission.

Celik, a fighter from a Turkish-backed Turkmen brigade in Syria, publicly admitted killing Russian pilot.

When he returned from Syria where he fought with militants against government forces, Celik was arrested in a group of 14 people in a restaurant in Izmir on March 30. One AK assault rifle, two pistols and ammunition were seized from them.

Later, Celik retracted his admittance of killing the pilot and sent a letter to Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, asking to start a dialog with him. However, Zakharova refused to react on the basis of some unofficial communications published on social networks. She said that Russia is interested in Celik’s clear statements with regard to the murder of the pilot and details of the incident based on proof.

Relations between Russia and Turkey became troubled after the incident. At that time, President Vladimir Putin described the murder of Russian pilot as “a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the terrorists.”