Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday a Syrian passenger plane forced to land in Ankara was carrying Russian-made munitions destined for Syria's defense ministry.
Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he had postponed his Turkey trip until the third of December.
This after Turkey said that it received no formal query from Russia about its interception of a Syrian plane en route from Moscow to Damascus with Russian passengers on board, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was demanding an explanation from the Turkish authorities after Ankara forced the plane to land late on Wednesday on suspicion that it was carrying military equipment. Moscow accused Ankara of endangering Russian lives.
The ministry said that Turkish authorities refused to grant Russian diplomatic staff access to 17 Russian citizens on board during the eight hours that the flight was held up because of suspicions the aircraft was carrying military equipment.
No Russian weapons were on board a Syrian airplane that was detained by Turkey en route from Moscow to Damascus because of suspicions it was carrying military equipment, a source in a Russian arms exporting agency told Interfax on Thursday.
Parts of the cargo were seized in Turkey before the passenger jet continued its trip, but no details were given of its contents.
The Syrian passenger plane took off from the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday after being grounded for several hours by Turkish authorities on suspicion that it was carrying military equipment destined for Syria.
The Turkish authorities seized some of the cargo from the plane, which was en route from Moscow to Damascus when it was forced to land, but gave no details of what they had found on board.
For its part, Syria said that the Damascus-bound plane had been carrying legitimate cargo.
"The plane was not carrying any illegal material," Ghaida Abdulatif, head of Syrian Arab Airlines, told reporters in Damascus. "When the plane was inspected it was clear that there were ... civilian packages with electrical equipment which are allowed to be transported and had been officially registered."
Syria also announced that it would halt all energy purchases from Turkey.
On Wednesday Turkey ordered a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to land in
Ankara, scrambling fighter planes to escort the aircraft
down, state-run TRT television said.
Positions:
Turkey received intelligence that a Syrian passenger plane which it
forced to land in Ankara was carrying "non-civilian cargo",
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
Speaking live on Turkish television, Davutoglu said Turkey was within
its rights under international law to investigate civilian planes
suspected to be carrying military materials.
On the field:
Syrian State Television reported that 8 Syrians were killed in an attack carried out by
armed group targeting a truck coming from Lebanon through al-Arida crossing point.
On the other hand, rebels took over around 5
kilometers of the strategic highway between Damascus and Aleppo near rebel-held
Maarrat al-Neeman, according to Agence France Presse.
REUTERS/LBCI