United Press International UPI
Oct 15 2012
Syria-bound aid plane inspected in Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 15 (UPI) — An Armenian aid plane heading for
Syria was escorted by Turkish fighter jets and forced to land in east
Turkey for a security inspection Monday, officials said.
The plane, which had been bound for the embattled city of Aleppo in
Syria, landed at an airport in Erzurum, Turkey, the Turkish daily
Today’s Zaman reported.
Armenia approved grounding of the aircraft as part of an agreement
between Turkey and Armenia that requires planes heading for Syria to
undergo routine security checks, officials told the Hurriyet Daily
News.
Armenia had informed Turkey of its plans to send humanitarian aid to
Syria, the newspaper said.
The incident occurred days after Turkey forced a Syrian plane
traveling from Moscow to Damascus to land because of suspicions it was
carrying military hardware. Turkish officials seized twelve parcels
containing military communications equipment and missile parts, the
Turkish media reported.
In another security incident, Russian passengers on a Syrian plane
grounded by Turkey were state agents, a Turkish newspaper reported, as
Turkey and Syria imposed tit-for-tat air space bans.
The 17 Russian passengers aboard the Syrian Air Airbus A-320 jetliner
with 35 passengers were en route to Damascus from Moscow to identify
about 300 Russian citizens of Chechen origin believed by Moscow to be
fighting with Syrian rebels against the Assad regime, the Yeni Safak
daily reported.
The predominantly Sunni Muslim Chechen Republic, or Chechnya, is an
oil-rich region bordering Georgia whose residents historically resist
Russian control. Moscow in recent years has tightened its grip on
Chechnya as well as expanded its anti-terrorist operations throughout
the region.
The predominantly Sunni Muslim Chechen Republic, or Chechnya, is an
oil-rich region bordering Georgia whose residents historically resist
Russian control. Moscow in recent years has tightened its grip on
Chechnya as well as expanded its anti-terrorist operations throughout
the region.
Most Syrian Muslims fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad are
Sunni. Assad’s ruling Alawites are an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
The Russian agents on the Syrian jet were members of the Federal
Security Service, Russia’s top domestic spy agency, and did not
undergo a security check in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, because they
were carrying diplomatic passports, the newspaper said.
The passenger jet was forced by two Turkish F-16 warplanes to land in
Ankara Wednesday after Turkish officials suspected the jet’s cargo
contained weapons and ammunition.
as close to the Turkish government, also said Turkey seized almost 900
pounds of military equipment, including parts that could be used in
missiles.
Russia has said the cargo was a legal shipment of radar. It denies any
weapons were aboard. Syria has denounced the interception as air
piracy.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Saturday the cargo had been
sent by a company based in the Russian city of Tula, 120 miles south
of Moscow, that produces anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-artillery
systems, as well as radar equipment.
The company, KBP Tula, was accused by Washington in 2003 of providing
weapons and sophisticated military equipment to Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein in violation of U.N. sanctions.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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