NEWS

Family of ‘downed’ Turk to sue

ANKARA (AFP) – Relatives of a Turkish air force pilot killed in 1996 when his jet was lost over the Aegean Sea want compensation from Greece, which they accuse of downing the plane, the family’s lawyer said yesterday. On October 8, 1996, Turkey announced the loss of an F-16 during an Aegean training mission, in what Ankara said was international air space north of Samos. One of the pilots managed to eject and was rescued, but the other, Captain Nail Erdogan, 35, was killed. The Turkish Milliyet daily recently quoted a former air force chief, General Ahmet Corekci, as saying the plane was downed by a missile fired by a Greek fighter. Athens has denied this. «The right to life was violated… to obtain moral and material compensation we shall shortly be bringing an action against Greece» before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Mehmet Emin Keles told AFP. [He said the suit would also seek recovery of Erdogan’s plane and body from the sea. Yesterday, Turkish press reports said Erdogan’s family would be asking for 2 trillion Turkish liras (just over a million euros) in compensation.]

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