Turkey Forces Armenian Plane Bound for Syria to Land in Erzurum
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 their searches, it said.
The plane was allowed to take off for Syria after nothing suspect was found aboard, NTV television reported.
The Armenian foreign ministry said the landing was planned.
"It was a planned landing. The plane is carrying humanitarian cargo for Syrian Armenians in Aleppo," Armenian foreign ministry spokesman Tigran Balaian told Agence France Presse in Yerevan.
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.
Source: Agence France Presse
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