The navigator of the downed Su-24 jet is in hospital in Moscow, pro-Kremlin news site RIA Novosti is reporting this morning.
Konstantin Murakhtin was rescued by Russian and Syrian government special forces in northern Latakia after his plane was shot down by a Turkish F-16 near the Syrian border on November 24. Murakhtin was taken to Russia's Hmeymim air base in northern Latakia, and reporters were informed that he was not seriously injured. Murakhtin even told reporters that he was keen to return to his duties in Syria.
Now RIA says that Murakhtin will remain in hospital for a month.
Murakhtin's wife was allowed to visit him this morning, the report says.
A medical source told RIA that it is normal procedure for a pilot who parachuted out of a plane to spend a month in hospital to undergo a "full examination."
From our newsdesk:
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has urged Turkey and Russia to set up a bilateral commission to investigate the downing of a Russian fighter jet near the border of Tukey and Syria.
Nazarbaev's office says he told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by telephone early on November 30 that he was concerned about Ankara's deteriorating relations with Russia over the November 24 altercation.
The Kazakh president's press service said Nazarbaev told Erdogan that both Russia and Turkey must "demonstrate a responsible attitude" to preserve relations.
Turkey says the plane violated Turkish airspace and its pilot ignored repeated warning calls.
Ankara has expressed sadness, but refused Russian demands to apologize -- insisting that its military followed proper procedures.
Russia insists the plane never left Syrian airspace.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 28 ordered economic sanctions against Turkey over the incident.
Syrian government forces have surrounded the town of Salma in northern Latakia Province, the Russian media is reporting.
Government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta claims that militants from the North Caucasus are involved in the fighting:
Now, according to some reports, no more than 2,000 militants remain in the town, although during the active phase of the fighting they numbered more than 10,000. Most of the extremists, whom the Syrian military say include those from the Caucasian regions of Russia and the CIS, have fled Salma. A considerable number of militants were liquidated.
The Chechen-led militant group Ajnad al-Kavkaz is active in northern Latakia, though its presence in Salma is not confirmed. However, Ajnad al-Kavkaz does not have anything like 2,000 militants, and consists of a few dozen Chechens.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Paris climate summit, the Kremlin says.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters this morning that "a meeting with Erdogan is not planned... there will be no such meeting."
However, Putin is likely to meet with U.S. President Obama, Peskov said.
"We're not excluding [a meeting] with Obama, most likely he will speak with Obama on the sidelines of the conference," Peskov told reporters.
Tensions between Russia and Turkey have soared since Turkey downed a Russian jet near the Syrian border on November 24.
TASS has more about the Kremlin's responses this morning to questions from reporters about contact -- or the lack of -- between Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan in the wake of Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.
Erdogan had twice attempted to telephone Putin and had then send an official request for a meeting at the Paris climate conference on November 30, according to TASS.
Responding to a question about the Kremlin's reaction to these requests, Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said:
"Our reaction boils down to [the fact that] the leadership of our country was informed about the requests by the Turkish side regarding a phone call and the possibility of a meeting at the climate summit in Paris."
The Kremlin has refused to comment this morning on reports that the body of Oleg Peshkov, the Russian pilot killed after his plane was downed last week near the Syrian border, is being flown from Ankara to Moscow.
Asked whether Moscow saw the return of the pilot's remains as an attempt to improve relations between Turkey and Russia, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that he "did not yet want to comment on this matter."
Noted Kyrgyz theologian 'attacked by IS supporters,' our Kyrgyz Service reports:
Kyrgyz officials say a well-known theologian has been attacked by supporters of the Islamic State (IS) extremist organization.
Kadyr Malikov, the director of Religion, Law and Politics analytical center in Bishkek, survived a stabbing attack near his house late on November 26.
Kyrgyz Interior Ministry spokesman Bakyt Seitov told RFE/RL on November 30 that two Kyrgyz men suspected in the attack had been detained in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, not far from the Syrian border.
Earlier on November 30, a spokesman of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security, Rakhat Sulaimanov, told RFE/RL that two other Kyrgyz men suspected of involvement in the attack had been detained in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz authorities have said that hundreds of Kyrgyz nationals are fighting alongside IS militants and other extremist Islamic groups' fighters in Syria and Iraq.
The BBC's Kriszta Satori tweets that Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said that airspace incidents will be hard to prevent as long as there are two coalitions fighting in Syria.
Tajikistan extradites suspected IS recruiters to Kyrgyzstan, our news desk reports:
Tajikistan has extradited two Kyrgyz nationals to Kyrgyzstan, where they face charges of recruiting for the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria and Iraq.
The Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's Office confirmed on November 30 that Jahongir Kurmishev and Kanybek Miyimanov had been handed over to law enforcement officials in Kyrgyzstan.
Kurmishev and Miyimanov were arrested in Tajikistan's northern region of Sughd in September.
They are accused of persuading four Tajik women to join the IS group with their children, and trying to arrange their travel to Syria via Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
Authorities in Tajikistan stopped the group from leaving the country in September and launched an investigation into their recruitment.
Tajik and Kyrgyz authorities have said that hundreds of their citizens are fighting alongside IS militants in Syria and Iraq. (24.kg, TASS)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu gave a joint press briefing this morning.
Here are Davutoğlu's comments:
-- [The downing of the Russian plane] was a defensive action
-- We have no intention to escalate this situation
-- We are ready to talk at every level to prevent similar incidents
-- Turkey has right to defend air space
-- Turkey wantst to have good relations with all countries fighting against IS
-- The bombardment during this incident was not against IS, there is no single IS position in this part of Syria
-- The bombarment against civilians on our border creates new wave of refugees
-- if there are two coalitions functioning against IS in same air space it will be difficult to prevent these incidents
-- There is a need to coordiante these operationss against IS
-- If we are fighting against IS, we need to fight only against IS, not against moderate opposition and not against civilians
-- There was Russian bombardment in Azaz against humanitarian convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Aleppo
-- Turkey's Syrian border is a national security concern for Turkey
-- Based on this we are ready to talk, to have diplo and miliary channels with Russia and any other country to prevent these unintentional inciodents and to plan fight gainst terror
-- Turkey's Syria border is NATO border, so violation was not just against Turkey but against NATO
--We gave all information [regarding the incident] to NATO, and are ready to give all information to any party to explain our position