Turkey denies Russia\'s accusations over held Syrian plane

Turkish officials on Thursday told the Russian ambassador here that his country had taken care of the Russian passengers, who flew a day ago from Moscow to Damascus but were intercepted with the plane in Ankara for inspection on suspicious cargo. Undersecretary of Turkish Foreign Affairs Feridun Sinirlioglu said so to Ambassador Vladimir Ivanovskiy following Moscow\'s criticism that Turkey did not act properly towards the Russian nationals aboard the Syrian plane which was forced to land in the Turkish capital late Wednesday. The Russian envoy was also informed that \"the Syrian civilian passenger plane carrying military material violated\" law of civil aviation, a Turkish diplomat told Xinhua. The Turkish authorities, which scrambled F-16 fighter jets to force down the Damascus-bound flight, said Wednesday they had detected some unspecified \"military-related materials\" on the Airbus A-320. Turkey took all measures to ensure the safety of the passengers on the Syrian plane, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday in response to Russia\'s dissatisfaction. \"There is no basis for the concerns that the safety of the passengers and the plane might have been compromised,\" the ministry said. The plane, belonging to Syrian Airlines, was released after the search. The Syrian Airlines remained the only carrier connecting Moscow and Damascus, after Russia\'s flagship Aeroflot Airline canceled its flights in August, citing commercial reasons.