Turkey 'expresses sadness' for death of Russian pilot

Turkey has expressed its condolences to Russia for the death of a Russian pilot shot down by Turkish jets near the Syrian border, Ankara's foreign minister has said following the first high-level meeting between the two states since the incident.

"We expressed our sadness and expressed our condolences for the Russian pilot who lost his life," Turkish media quoted Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a European security meeting in Belgrade.

Both Russian airmen ejected from the Su-24 plane after being shot down by Turkish F-16s on 24 November, an incident for which Russia has demanded a full apology. 

The pilot was killed by Turkmen rebels who fired on him while he was parachuting to the ground, while the navigator was rescued by Russian and Syrian forces from the Syrian side of the border. Another Russian serviceman was killed by the rebels, who are backed by Turkey, in the rescue operation.

The meeting, which lasted a reported 40 minutes, comes after days of insults and accusations at the highest levels of government, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying his country had not received a credible apology from Turkey and that it would regret its actions.

His foreign ministry on Wednesday claimed the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was personally involved in buying oil from the Islamic State group.

Erdogan hit back by saying he had evidence of Russian nationals being behind black market oil deals with the group.

Cavusoglu praised the mood of the talks on Thursday but gave no indication of a breakthrough on ending the crisis.

"It's important to keep the channels of dialogue open," he said. "On both sides there is a desire not to escalate the tensions. I am sure that common sense will win over emotion."

But he added: "It would not be realistic to say that the problems have been overcome in a first meeting."

Of IS oil, Cavusoglu said: "We gave our response to the claims that have been raised. Our hope is that they will give up their baseless claims."

However, in comments broadcast on Russian television, Lavrov said: "We met with Mr Cavusoglu... We did not hear anything new. The Turkish minister confirmed the positions which they have already voiced. We confirmed our views."