Turkey forces Armenian jet to land
Turkish authorities forced an Armenian A320 airliner to land at Erzurum Airport in the east of the country on Monday, CNN-Turk television said, RIA Novovsti reported.
A search of the aircraft is underway, Turkey's NTV television said.
The Airbus A320 jet was on its way from the Armenia capital Yerevan to Aleppo in Syria with a cargo of humanitarian aid, CNN-Turk reported, quoting Turkish Foreign Ministry sources. The Turkish government was informed of the nature of the cargo but decided to search the plane anyway, CNN-Turk said.
The search follows a similar incident on October 10 when Turkish F-16 fighter jets forced down a Syrian A320 on a Moscow-Damascus flight at an airport in Turkey, after which it was searched for several hours. The Turkish authorities removed 12 boxes of cargo, which media reports quoted the authorities as saying contained electronic components for air defense radar systems.
Russia denied having sent any weapons or military equipment on the flight.
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