"Turkish aircraft hijacked, passengers free"

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Turkish aircraft hijacked, passengers free


ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish passenger plane heading for Istanbul from
northern Cyprus was hijacked on Saturday and forced to land for refuelling
in southern Turkey, the airline said. 

Some passengers were freed after the plane landed in Antalya, Atlas Jet CEO
Tuncay Doganer told reporters. Private broadcaster NTV reported that
passengers had forced open the rear door of the plane and all the passengers
had escaped. 

The hijackers had said they wanted the plane to go to Iran, Doganer told
reporters. NTV quoted one witness as saying the hijackers had said they were
members of al Qaeda and another as saying the hijackers spoke Arabic and
said they wanted to go to Syria. NTV reported there were two hijackers. 

There were 136 passengers on board the plane, which was flying from Ercan
airport in Turkish-backed northern Cyprus to Istanbul when it was hijacked. 

Cyprus, a major tourist destination for Europeans, is divided between the
internationally recognised government in the south and an enclave in the
north recognised only by Ankara.

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