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Military cargo found on plane en route from Russia to Syria

Türkiye Materials 11 October 2012 02:12 (UTC +04:00)
Parts of a military system and military communication equipment were found on board a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus that was forced to land by Turkish jets at Ankara airport, CNN Turk TV reported Thursday.
Military cargo found on plane en route from Russia to Syria

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 11 / Trend /

Parts of a military system and military communication equipment were found on board a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus that was forced to land by Turkish jets at Ankara airport, CNN Turk TV reported Thursday.

At the same time, the Turkish Foreign Ministry sent an emergency warning to the Department of Civil Aviation, ordering all Turkish aircraft to immediately leave Syrian airspace.

Turkish fighter jets forced a Syrian passenger jet to land at the airport in the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday.

Turkish F-16s forced down the Airbus A320, which was flying from Moscow to Damascus, over suspicions it has prohibited cargo on board.

The plane, which took off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport, landed in Ankara at 5:15 p.m. local time.

Davutoglu confirmed that a Syrian plane with 30 passengers on board was diverted to Ankara and forced to land by Turkish fighter jets on Wednesday.

"There is information that the plane had cargo on board that does not meet the requirements of civil aviation," Davutoglu told TGRT television in Athens, where he is on a visit.

"Measures are currently being undertaken as provided under current legislation and international law," he said.

Turkey will continue to investigate Syrian civilian aircraft using its airspace, Reuters quoted Davutoglu as saying.

Tensions between the two countries boiled over late last Wednesday when a mortar round apparently fired from Syria killed five civilians in the Turkish border town of Akcakale.

Turkey responded with artillery strikes against targets in violence-wracked Syria and the Turkish parliament authorized the government to order more strikes as necessary.

Although Damascus apologized for the incident, Turkish and Syrian artillery exchanged fire a number of times over the ensuing six days.

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