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Los Angeles Times
Oct 15 2012
Turkey grounds another plane heading to Syria amid tensions
BEIRUT -- A plane headed from Armenia to Syria was grounded Monday at
an airport in Turkey, less than a week after the country intercepted
another Syria-bound plane.
The plane, described as being on a civilian humanitarian aid mission,
was grounded in the eastern province of Erzurum in order for its cargo
to be examined, according to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency.
It was headed to the besieged city of Aleppo, which has been the site
of clashes between rebels and government forces since July and a
regular target of government helicopters and fighter jets, leaving
many parts of the city destroyed.
Turkish authorities will examine part of the plane's cargo and if it
does not violate civilian aviation rules, the aircraft will be allowed
to continue to Aleppo, the news agency reported.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Turkey granted the plane permission
to fly through its airspace only on condition it could search its
cargo for possible military equipment, the Associated Press reported.
On Wednesday, a passenger plane heading from Moscow to Damascus was
forced to land amid suspicion that it was carrying weapons for the
regime of President Bashar Assad. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said the plane was carrying Russian munitions.
On Saturday, Turkey announced that it was closing its airspace to
Syrian civilian flights. Earlier, it had barred Syrian military
flights from flying over Turkey.
As tensions between Turkey and Syria continued to escalate, U.N. envoy
to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi was in Iran to meet with President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad regarding the ongoing Syrian conflict.
Brahimi appealed for Iran's help in achieving a ceasefire between
Assad's loyalist forces and rebel fighters for the upcoming Muslim
holiday of Eid Al-Adha, which will fall around Oct. 25. It is an
appeal unlikely to succeed as previous calls for a ceasefire have been
ignored by the Syrian government.
"If Syria disintegrates, the sectarian and tribal wars will spread in
Syria and spill over to the region and to neighboring countries,"
Brahimi said, according to the official Iranian Students' News Agency.
"So it is necessary to come to an understanding and finish this dire
situation in Syria."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/10/turkey-grounds-another-plane-heading-to-syria-amid-tensions.html
Oct 15 2012
Turkey grounds another plane heading to Syria amid tensions
BEIRUT -- A plane headed from Armenia to Syria was grounded Monday at
an airport in Turkey, less than a week after the country intercepted
another Syria-bound plane.
The plane, described as being on a civilian humanitarian aid mission,
was grounded in the eastern province of Erzurum in order for its cargo
to be examined, according to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency.
It was headed to the besieged city of Aleppo, which has been the site
of clashes between rebels and government forces since July and a
regular target of government helicopters and fighter jets, leaving
many parts of the city destroyed.
Turkish authorities will examine part of the plane's cargo and if it
does not violate civilian aviation rules, the aircraft will be allowed
to continue to Aleppo, the news agency reported.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Turkey granted the plane permission
to fly through its airspace only on condition it could search its
cargo for possible military equipment, the Associated Press reported.
On Wednesday, a passenger plane heading from Moscow to Damascus was
forced to land amid suspicion that it was carrying weapons for the
regime of President Bashar Assad. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said the plane was carrying Russian munitions.
On Saturday, Turkey announced that it was closing its airspace to
Syrian civilian flights. Earlier, it had barred Syrian military
flights from flying over Turkey.
As tensions between Turkey and Syria continued to escalate, U.N. envoy
to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi was in Iran to meet with President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad regarding the ongoing Syrian conflict.
Brahimi appealed for Iran's help in achieving a ceasefire between
Assad's loyalist forces and rebel fighters for the upcoming Muslim
holiday of Eid Al-Adha, which will fall around Oct. 25. It is an
appeal unlikely to succeed as previous calls for a ceasefire have been
ignored by the Syrian government.
"If Syria disintegrates, the sectarian and tribal wars will spread in
Syria and spill over to the region and to neighboring countries,"
Brahimi said, according to the official Iranian Students' News Agency.
"So it is necessary to come to an understanding and finish this dire
situation in Syria."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/10/turkey-grounds-another-plane-heading-to-syria-amid-tensions.html