Turkey says Syrian plane carried Russian munitions
- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said onThursday a Syrian passenger
plane forced to land in Ankara was carrying Russian-made munitions destined for Syria's
armed forces, ratcheting up tension with his country's war-torn neighbor.
Damascus said the plane had been
carrying legitimate cargo and described
Turkey's actions as an act of "air piracy",
while Moscow accused Ankara of
endangering the lives of Russian
passengers when it intercepted the jet
late on Wednesday.
The grounding of the plane was another
sign of Ankara's growing assertiveness
towards the crisis in Syria . Turkey's chief
of staff warned on Wednesday the
military would use greater force if Syrian
shells continued to land in Turkey.
"This was munitions from the Russian
equivalent of our Mechanical and
Chemical Industry Corporation being sent
to the Syrian Defence Ministry," Erdogan
told a news conference
.
A spokeswoman for Moscow's Vnukovo
airport told state news agency Itar-Tass
everything put on the plane had cleared
customs and security checks and no
prohibited items were on board.
Asked about Erdogan's statement, the
Russian Foreign Ministry referred to her
remarks and declined further comment.
Russia's arms export agency said it had no
cargo on the flight, and the Interfax news
agency quoted a Russian diplomat as
saying the cargo seized by Turkey was
not of Russian origin.
Syrian Arab Airlines chief Ghaida Abdulatif
said in Damascus the plane had been
carrying civilian electrical equipment.
Turkey has become one of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's harshest
critics during a 19-month-old uprising that
has killed some 30,000 people, providing
sanctuary for rebel officers and pushing
for a foreign-protected safe zone inside
Syria.
Russia has stood behind Assad and an
arms industry source said Moscow had
not stopped its weapons exports to
Damascus.
Military jets escorted the Airbus A-320,
carrying around 30 passengers, into
Ankara airport after Turkey received an
intelligence tip-off. The Turkish foreign
ministry said the plane had been given a
chance to turn back towards Russia while
still over the Black Sea, but the pilot
chose not to do so.
"This hostile and deplorable Turkish act is
an additional indication of the hostile
policy of Erdogan's government," Syria's
foreign ministry said in a statement,
accusing Ankara of "harboring terrorists"
and allowing them to infiltrate Syria.
The Syrian conflict threatens to suck in
neighboring states and exposes the deep
Sunni-Shi'ite rift in the Middle East.
Two Sunni Islamist rebel groups said late
on Thursday they had detonated bombs in
a state security compound in central
Damascus. Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah
group - which, like Syria's rulers, is allied
with Shi'ite Iran - meanwhile denied
sending fighters to aid Assad.
Turkey says Syrian plane carried Russian munitions | Reuters
