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"Added to that, the long hours during which the passengers were locked without being provided (food or) any services or even informed of what was going on, which left them in a state of panic and a very bad psychological condition."
Damascus called Turkey's provocation an act of piracy. Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled a planned Ankara visit. Prime Minister Erdogan's office said it's rescheduled for December 3. Moscow officials said nothing further.
Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed concern. They demanded an explanation. Seventeen Russian nationals endured abuse on board for eight hours. Moscow accused Ankara of endangering Russian lives.
Turkey never informed Moscow about Russian passengers. Media reports provided information. A Foreign Ministry statement said what happened was "in violation of the bilateral consular agreements." It wants no further provocations.
A high-ranking Russian weapons export institution source said no weapons or military technology was onboard. At the same time he added:
"Russia has not halted its cooperation in the field of military technologies with Syria and will provide Syria with any type of military technologies in case of need according to the rules followed and not secretly, particularly via a passenger plane."
Turkey's media said Ankara prohibited Turkish passenger flights from entering Syrian airspace henceforth. Safety issues were cited.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said other civilian aircraft will be prevented from using its airspace if necessary, adding:
"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."Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
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