Syria accused Turkey of hostility and “lying” today after it intercepted a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow which Ankara said carried military equipment and ammunition for Damascus.
As Damascus accused Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of “lying,” France warned of the risks posed by the rising tensions between the two neighbours.
“The Turkish prime minister continues to lie to justify his government’s hostile attitude towards Syria,” the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The information ministry challenged Erdogan to show the alleged weapons seized.
“The plane did not carry ammunition or military equipment and Erdogan’s comments lack credibility and he must show the equipment and ammunition at least to his people,” it said.
Erdogan earlier said the plane carried “equipment and ammunition shipped to the Syrian defence ministry” from a Russian military supplier.
On the ground, rebels fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad won more territory as they bid to secure a “buffer zone” in a swathe of land abutting the Turkish border, a reporter said.
And in Damascus, a powerful blast rocked the military justice building, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, in what state television said was a terrorist attack.
UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, meanwhile, held talks with officials in Saudi Arabia, which like Turkey has called for Assad to quit and supports the rebels.
Saudi deputy foreign minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah urged Brahimi at talks in the Red Sea city of Jeddah today to work for “an immediate halt to the bloodshed of the Syrian people,” the Saudi news agency SPA reported.
In the plane incident, Ankara scrambled two jets on Wednesday evening to force down the Syrian Air Airbus A-320, Turkish officials said, after receiving intelligence its cargo did not comply with civil aviation rules.
The aircraft with 35 passengers on board was grounded for nine hours before it was finally allowed to resume its journey to Damascus, as Turkey said it confiscated unspecified “objectionable” cargo.
Damascus said the interception was “hostile and reprehensible” and “another sign of the hostile policies of the Erdogan government, which harbours (rebels) and bombs Syrian territory.”
It furiously demanded Turkey return the cargo it had seized at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport.
“Turkish military aircraft... forced the plane to land without giving prior warning. The military aircraft were so close that there could have been an accident,” said Syrian Air director Aida Abdel Latif.