Turkey Says Jet Held Military Gear

Syrian Air plane at Ankara airport. Credit: ©APOn board of the Syrian passenger plane forced to land in Ankara there were 12 boxes with technical elements for air defense system radio detection stations. This was reported on October 12 by the Russian newspaper Kommersant, referring to its own sources.

The sources of the newspaper noted that such cargo does not require special customs procedures, since it does not present danger both to the passengers or the plane.

Kommersant also noted that in the near future FSB intends to start the investigation in the subdivisions with regards to information leakage about the cargo. According to the source, in all probability, the Turkish party knew about  the cargo onboard, otherwise they “won’t take such risks” trying to force the plane to land.

The civilian A320 plane, which was carrying 35 passengers, was forced to land in Damascus early Thursday when two battle-planes were sent for interception.

After the cargo was arrested, Turkey allowed the Syrian plane to take off.

On October 11, Mr. Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey, said: "These are equipment and ammunition sent to the Syrian Defense Ministry from the Russian [state-owned arms manufacturer]. At the moment, our authorities are continuing their investigation.”

The Syrian MIA, in its turn, accused the Turkish Prime Minister in telling lies and underlined that on board of Аirbus А320 there was no illegal cargo.

Lenta.ru