Alparslan Celik (1982) is a member of the Grey Wolves who killed Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov in 2015 as he parachuted from his plane after being shot down over Syrian territory by a Turkish F-16. Celik left Turkey to join the Turkman brigades fighting in the Syrian Civil War and was allowed to travel between the two countries for months after the killing. At the funeral of a fellow member of the Turkman brigade, Celik explained, “I am here and there, I am going and returning. The martyr was our friend, he was with us in Bayrbucak and the Turkman Mountains.” This lack of action from the Turkish authorities was condemned by Moscow and led Vladimir Putin to order economic sanctions on Turkey.
Celik was not arrested until six months after the death of Oleg Peshkov and, after 37 days in custody, all charges against him were dropped. This has been cited by some as evidence that Turkish authorities were protecting the MHP member, whose father is a former MHP district mayor. In 2021, a recording of Celik emerged in which he claimed to have carried out the killing in league with the Turkish intelligence services. His claim was supported by a former MIT staffer, Engin Büker who confessed in 2023 that Celik’s entire unit had been under MIT control. Celik remains at large and the authorities have claimed he “cannot be found.” However, in October 2022 lawyers attempting to prosecute Celik shared pictures of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli and Çelik in a meeting in the city of Erzurum, shared on Çelik's social media account.
