The bomber was shot down last November. Turkey claimed the Russian plane entered its airspace, while Russia categorically denied these accusations.
“Two Turkish pilots who shot down a Russian Su-24 near the Syrian border were taken into custody, according to a senior Turkish official speaking on condition of anonymity,” Bloomberg reports, citing a high-level Turkish official.
It was reported earlier that at least one of the pilot’s responsible for downing the Russian jet took part in last week’s failed Turkish coup attempt.
The shooting down of the jet led Moscow led to a crisis in relations between Moscow and Ankara. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident as a “stab in the back” and imposed a number of restrictive measures against Ankara, repeatedly calling on the Turkish government to apologize and cover any material losses to the pilot’s family.
Putin signed a decree last month that lifted sanctions against Turkey, following an apology from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.