Turkey forces Syrian passenger plane to land

Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday 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 neighbour.

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 that no prohibited items were on board.

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. Russia has stood behind Assad.

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, accusing Ankara of “harbouring terrorists” and allowing them to infiltrate Syria.

The Syrian conflict threatens to suck in neighbouring states and exposes the deep Sunni-Shi’ite rift in the Middle East.

Two Sunni Islamist rebel groups said last night they had detonated bombs in a state security compound in central Damascus. Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hezbollah group meanwhile denied sending fighters to aid Assad.

— Reuters