TURKEY FORCES ARMENIAN PLANE BOUND FOR SYRIA TO LAND
AlArabiya.net
November 7, 2012 Wednesday
UAE
An Armenian plane carrying humanitarian aid for Syria was forced
to land in Turkey on Thursday for an inspection of its cargo, the
Anatolia news agency reported.
The cargo plane landed at Erzurum airport in eastern Turkey where
teams of police and troops with sniffer dogs began a search, it said.
It was the second time in a month that the Turkish authorities have
ordered an Armenian plane heading for Syria to land for security
checks.
On October 15, another Armenian plane carrying humanitarian aid to
Syria’s battered second city of Aleppo was forced to land at Erzurum
airport but the plane was allowed to resume journey after officials
said no suspect cargo turned up during searches.
Last month, Turkish jets forced a Syrian plane flying from Russia to
land at Ankara airport because of what it called suspect cargo.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the cargo contained
military equipment for the Syrian defense ministry, but Russia said it
was dual-purpose radar equipment which was not banned by international
conventions.
Former allies Turkey and Syria have seen their relations deteriorate
as fighting between regime troops and rebels has intensified in Syria
and the two countries have closed their airspaces to each other.
Syria has a small Armenian community of between 60,000 and 100,000
people, according to estimates, most of who live in Aleppo.
Armenia also has close ties with Syria’s major ally Russia while its
relations with Turkey have long been strained.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has been
closed for more than a decade.
Turkey-Syria relations plunged further after shells fired from Syria
killed five Turkish civilians inside a Turkish village on October 3.
From: Baghdasarian