DHAKA: The surviving crew member of a Russian fighter jet shot down by Turkey has rejected Ankara’s explanation of the incident, saying there were no warnings given before the plane was attacked.

Turkey said the fighter jet violated its airspace on its southern border with Syria, an assertion that navigator Konstantin Murakhtin denied.

‘No, this is impossible, not even for a second,’ Murakhtin told Russian media on Wednesday, Al Jazeera publishes this report on Thursday.

The navigator was rescued by Russian and Syrian special forces, but the pilot was shot dead by rebels as he parachuted to the ground.

Turkey on Wednesday released what it said was an audio recording of a warning given to the Russian fighter jet.

A voice in one of the recordings can be heard saying in English, ‘You are approaching Turkish airspace, change your heading’.

According to Turkish armed forces, the warnings were issued by the Diyarbakir airbase and not by pilots.

However, Murakhtin said he heard nothing.

‘In actual fact, there were no warnings at all, neither by radio, nor visually. There were no contacts whatsoever.’

BDST: 1835 HRS, Nov 26, 2015
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