Foreign and Expatriates Ministry: Neither non-civilian cargo nor banned material on board

 DAMASCUS, (ST)- The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry on Thursday affirmed that  the Syrian Airbus 320 passenger plane did not carry non-civilian cargo nor banned material.

The airbus 320 with 30 passengers on board was intercepted and forced to land in Ankara airport as it entered Turkish air space on Wednesday.

Later, the airbus arrived in Damascus on Thursday.

In a statement released earlier, Ghaida Abdullatif,the Syrian Arab Airlines Director, was quoted as saying that the Turkish authorities assaulted the crew before allowing the plane to take off from Ankara Airport, as  the crew members refused to sign a document saying that the plane made an emergency landing.

“Turkish F-16 warplanes forced the Syrian plane to land to be searched in violation of international procedures stipulating prior notification to the pilot and  the Turkish civil airline, which almost endangered lives by grounding plane,” said Abdullatif.

Abdullatif assured that all the passengers are in a good health condition, however suffering a very bad psychological state.

The Director of the Syrian Arab Airlines considered what happened as “an inhumane act” that indicates a flaw in dealing with the rules and laws stated in the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.

“The Syrian Arab Airlines will inform the International Union of Aviation and the Arab Aviation Union as well as all the international and humanitarian organizations about  the air piracy and inhumane treatment the plane’s crew and passengers were subjected to.” Ghaida concluded.

Meanwhile, Russia denied that any military hardware or weapon were on board.

Later on, Information Ministry reiterated that the Syrian Plane didn’t transport neither ammunition nor military equipment, asserting that Turkish Premier, Erdogan’s statements regarding the Plane cargo ”lacks credibility”, calling on him to show equipment and ammunition as a proof to his people at least.

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry spokesman, Dr. Jihad Maqdisi, on his part, said that the Turkish statements uncover the reality of the Turkish Authorities’ involvement in the piracy on the Syrian Airlines Plane.

The Syrian Airbus A320 that was intercepted by Turkish commandos and forced to land in Turkey was legally carrying Russian radar parts for Syria, Russia’s foreign minister said Friday.

In a related development, the Russian veteran Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, declared Friday evening that the Syrian Airlines Plane was carrying a shipment of ‘electric equipment for radars’, asserting that the shipment was a legitimate cargo in compliance with international law.

“There weren’t and there couldn’t be any weapons on board the plane, which was carrying a cargo, sent by a legal Russian supplier in a legal way to a legal customer. Cargo documents had been issued fully in line with usual demands. Transporting that kind of cargo by civilian planes is absolutely normal practice.” reiterated Minister Lavrov, asserting that Russia was still waiting for an ” official explanation” from the Turkish Authorities about the incident.

M. Daoud/ Al-Ibrahim