Turkey Forces Syrian Plane Land in Ankara

Turkish military jets today forces a Damascus-bound Syrian passenger plane to land in Ankara, suspecting it of carrying military equipment from Moscow. The Airbus A-320 was carrying 30 passengers.

"We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians. It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. "Today we received information this plane was carrying cargo of a nature that could not possibly be in compliance with the rules of civil aviation," he added. (Reuters, 10 October)