Widow of Downed Su-24 Pilot Ready to Personally Accept Turkish FM's Apologies

The widow of the Russian Su-24 pilot, downed by the Turkish Air Force in Syria in November 2015, said she was ready to meet the Turkish foreign minister who had said he was ready to personally apologize to her.

"Despite the very grievous times for our family, we will arrive in Moscow to attend this meeting," Elena Peshkova said Thursday.

On November 2, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he was ready to personally apologize to Oleg Peshkov's widow. A Turkish F-16 fighter shot down the Russian Su-24 combat jet near the Turkish border in Syria on November 24, 2015. Both pilots ejected. One of them was saved, but Oleg Peskov was killed by militants' fire. In the course of the rescue operation, a Russian marine was also killed.

The aircraft was carrying out anti-terrorist operations in Syria. The incident caused a deterioration of relations between Ankara and Moscow, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it "a stab in the back."

Russia has repeatedly said that Turkey should apologize for downing the plane and cover any material losses to the country and the pilot's family, as well as punish those responsible for the incident.

On June 27, the Kremlin's press office published a statement, in which it announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin to apologize for the November 2015 incident.