Oct. 11, 2012 – Defense news (AFP)
MOSCOW — Tensions flared Oct. 11 between Turkey and Syria as well as top Syrian ally Russia after Ankara forced a Syrian passenger plane from Moscow, reportedly carrying arms, to land in the
Turkish capital.
The Syrian regime furiously demanded that Turkey return the cargo it had seized at Ankara airport while Russia blasted the Turkish authorities for endangering the lives of passengers and demanded
an explanation.
The incident risks not only inflaming tensions between Turkey and the Syrian government — already at bitter odds — but also hurting ties between Ankara and Moscow, which have starkly differing
views on the Syria conflict.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey had seized “illegal cargo” from the plane, adding that Turkey would hold on to it for further investigation but declining to elaborate on the
contents.
“The Syrian government calls on the Turkish authorities for a complete and proper restitution of the contents of the plane,” the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The interception of the plane was “hostile and reprehensible behavior” and “another sign of the hostile policies of the (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip) Erdogan government, which harbors (rebels)
and bombs Syrian territory,” the foreign ministry added.
Amid speculation among commentators of growing tensions between Russia and Erdogan’s increasingly confident government, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Oct. 11 the Russian leader has
postponed a visit to Turkey.
The trip had been reportedly scheduled for Oct. 15, although the first media reports of the postponement surfaced before the plane was intercepted Oct. 10.
Turkey had scrambled two jets to force down the SyrianAir Airbus A-320 after reportedly receiving intelligence it was carrying military cargo for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia, a top ally of the Damascus regime and its biggest arms supplier, said Ankara had put the lives of passengers at risk by forcing it to land in the Turkish capital. But sources denied it
was carrying arms or military equipment.
“We are concerned that this emergency situation put at risk the lives and safety of passengers, who included 17 Russian citizens,” said a statement by foreign ministry spokesman Alexander
Lukashevich.
“The Russian side continues to insist on an explanation of the reasons for such actions by the Turkish authorities,” he added.
The confiscated cargo was believed to be missile parts, the Turkish NTV news channel reported, while state-run TRT speculated it could be communications equipment headed for Damascus.
A source in the Russian arms export industry denied the claims.
“Neither weapons nor any systems or assembly parts for military equipment were or could have been onboard the passenger plane,” the unidentified high-ranking source fold Interfax.
‘We found out from the media’
Russia has infuriated Turkey and its Western allies by refusing to halt military cooperation with Syria, one of its key weapons clients, despite the raging conflict in the country.
Ties between the one-time allies Syria and Turkey have soured dramatically over the conflict, particularly when a Turkish fighter jet was brought down by Syrian fire in June, killing two pilots.
Turkey has also sent in major troop and arms reinforcements to the border with Syria and warned of strong retaliation after a series of shell strikes on its soil, including a deadly attack last
week that left two women and three children dead.
The saber-rattling added to growing fears of a wider regional fallout from the conflict ravaging Syria, in which activists say more than 32,000 people have died since March 2011.
Davutoglu insisted “the incident would not affect Turkish-Russian relations at this point”. Moscow has defiantly refusing to take sides against Assad’s regime, which Erdogan has vehemently
condemned.
However, in a sign of the tensions the plane intercept could cause, the Russian foreign ministry also listed a number of what it saw as serious shortcomings by the Turkish authorities in their
handling of the incident.
“The Turkish side did not inform the Russian embassy in Ankara that there are Russian citizens among the detained plane’s passengers,” it said. “We found out about this from news websites.”
The Russian passengers had to spend eight hours on the plane without food and were not permitted to go inside the airport, only to rarely exit the plane and go down to the landing strip, the
statement said.
According to Anatolia, the plane was allowed to leave at 2330 GMT, nine hours after it was intercepted, with all of its 35 passengers on board.
SyrianAir director Aida Abdel Latif said Turkish authorities used aggression against the crew before allowing the plane to take off from Ankara airport, without specifying the nature of the
alleged mistreatment.
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