Killer of Russian pilot: Turkey needs to give us anti-aircraft weapons
Alparslan Celik, the Turkish citizen who gunned down the Russian pilot Oleg Peskov, after his warplane was shot down by the Turkish air force last November 24, said Thursday that he doesn't fear the Russians who are on a manhunt to either capture or kill him in Syria.
"I have no such fear [of being killed]. We will continue our fight to the last person, the last breath, [and] the last drop of blood," Celik told the Dogan news agency.
The Russians thought they would find Celik in the town of Rabia in Latakia which was recaptured by the Syrian military and its allied militias earlier this week. However Celik was at a funeral of one of his fallen comrades in arms where he admitted to coming and going from Turkey regularly.
On Thursday Celik also admitted to receiving support from the Turks but argued that it isn't enough, saying the lack of anti-aircraft weaponry in particular is a major weakness on his side since his forces have been routinely bombarded by the Russian air force, whose intervention on the side of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has bolstered that regime and seen its opponents pummeled by multiple air strikes.
Celik complained that his forces need more than basic weapons in light of this four month old Russian intervention.
"The same [kind of] weapons are coming today when we are fighting against Russia, which is a world power," he said. "We are not equipped with the weapons to counter their high-tech devices. But they [our weapons] are certainly coming from the Turkish state. The [kind of] weapons that work in combat at close quarters. But we don't have an air defense system... What we are asking from the Turkish state is to provide us with air defense weapons.
"I have no such fear [of being killed]. We will continue our fight to the last person, the last breath, [and] the last drop of blood," Celik told the Dogan news agency.
The Russians thought they would find Celik in the town of Rabia in Latakia which was recaptured by the Syrian military and its allied militias earlier this week. However Celik was at a funeral of one of his fallen comrades in arms where he admitted to coming and going from Turkey regularly.
On Thursday Celik also admitted to receiving support from the Turks but argued that it isn't enough, saying the lack of anti-aircraft weaponry in particular is a major weakness on his side since his forces have been routinely bombarded by the Russian air force, whose intervention on the side of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has bolstered that regime and seen its opponents pummeled by multiple air strikes.
Celik complained that his forces need more than basic weapons in light of this four month old Russian intervention.
"The same [kind of] weapons are coming today when we are fighting against Russia, which is a world power," he said. "We are not equipped with the weapons to counter their high-tech devices. But they [our weapons] are certainly coming from the Turkish state. The [kind of] weapons that work in combat at close quarters. But we don't have an air defense system... What we are asking from the Turkish state is to provide us with air defense weapons.