Istanbul: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 armed forces,
ratcheting up tension with his country's war-torn neighbour.
Damascus
said the plane had been carrying legitimate cargo and described Turkey's
actions as an act of "air piracy", while Moscow accused Ankara of
endangering the lives of Russian passengers when it intercepted the jet late on
Wednesday.
The
grounding of the plane was another sign of Ankara's growing assertiveness
towards the crisis in Syria. Turkey's chief of staff warned on Wednesday the
military would use greater force if Syrian shells continued to land in Turkey.
"This
was munitions from the Russian equivalent of our Mechanical and Chemical
Industry Corporation being sent to the Syrian Defence Ministry," Erdogan
told a news conference.
A
spokeswoman for Moscow's Vnukovo airport told state news agency Itar-Tass everything
put on the plane had cleared customs and security checks and no prohibited
items were on board.
Asked
about Erdogan's statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry referred to her remarks
and declined further comment.
Russia's
arms export agency said it had no cargo on the flight, and the Interfax news
agency quoted a Russian diplomat as saying the cargo seized by Turkey was not
of Russian origin.
Syrian
Arab Airlines chief Ghaida Abdulatif said in Damascus the plane had been
carrying civilian electrical equipment.
Turkey
has become one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's harshest critics during a
19-month-old uprising that has killed some 30,000 people, providing sanctuary
for rebel officers and pushing for a foreign-protected safe zone inside Syria.
Russia
has stood behind Assad and an arms industry source said Moscow had not stopped
its weapons exports to Damascus.
Military
jets escorted the Airbus A-320, carrying around 30 passengers, into Ankara
airport after Turkey received an intelligence tip-off. The Turkish foreign
ministry said the plane had been given a chance to turn back towards Russia
while still over the Black Sea, but the pilot chose not to do so.
"This
hostile and deplorable Turkish act is an additional indication of the hostile
policy of Erdogan's government," Syria's foreign ministry said in a
statement, accusing Ankara of "harbouring terrorists" and allowing
them to infiltrate Syria.
The
Syrian conflict threatens to suck in neighbouring states and exposes the deep
Sunni-Shi'ite rift in the Middle East.
Two
Sunni Islamist rebel groups said late on Thursday they had detonated bombs in a
state security compound in central Damascus. Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah group
- which, like Syria's rulers, is allied with Shi'ite Iran - meanwhile denied
sending fighters to aid Assad.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin had been expected to visit Turkey at the start of next
week but Turkish officials said hours before the plane was grounded that Russia
had requested the visit be postponed, citing his heavy work schedule.
"BRUTAL MASSACRES"
Turkey
said it would stop more Syrian civilian aircraft using its airspace if
necessary and instructed Turkish passenger planes to avoid Syrian airspace,
saying it was no longer safe.
"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," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
Turkey
has boosted its troop presence along the 900-km (560-mile) border and returned
fire in response to shelling from northern Syria, where Assad's forces have
been battling rebels.
Chief
of Staff General Necdet Ozel said on Wednesday his troops would respond
"with greater force" if Syrian shelling continued and parliament last
week authorised the deployment of troops outside Turkish territory.
Such
approval has in the past been used for strikes against Kurdish militant bases
in northern Iraq. In 2008 Turkey sent 10,000 troops backed by air power over
the border.
Some
25 fighter planes were sent to a military base in the southern city of
Diyarbakir, around 100 km from the Syrian border, on Monday, the Dogan news
agency said.
Syrian
refugees fleeing across a river into Turkey spoke of chaos as Syrian government
forces battled rebels for control of the area around their home town of Azmarin
on Thursday.
Loudspeakers
in Azmarin, audible from Hacipasa on the Turkish side, called on rebel fighters
to give up.
"Give
up your weapons. Come and surrender. We are coming with tanks and planes,"
they said between bursts of mortar fire.
RISKS OF DEEPER INVOLVEMENT
Turkey
has made clear that beyond like-for-like retaliation it has no appetite for
unilateral intervention in Syria. Such a move would be fraught with risks.
Turkey
relies on Russia, which has blocked tougher UN resolutions against Damascus,
both for energy needs and to help realise its ambitions to be a hub for energy
supplies to Europe.
Many
Turks see Russia as harbouring sympathy towards the militant Kurdish Workers
Party (PKK), which has stepped up violence in southeast Turkey in recent
months. Turkish officials believe Syria and Iran have also been backing the
group.
"We
get 80 per cent of our natural gas from Iran and Russia. Already the PKK card
is being used by Iran against Turkey ... so the risks for Turkey of being
involved in even a limited operation are huge," Ulgen said.
The
establishment of foreign-protected safe zones in Syria would be hazardous, with
the exit strategy for foreign forces dependent on the Syrian opposition's
ability to topple Assad.
The
opposition is deeply divided. Organisers of a Qatar conference aimed at uniting
it said on Thursday it had been postponed until they can agree on fair
representation for disparate groups.
The
Syrian rebels are outgunned by the government but can still strike at will,
while Assad has assumed personal command of his forces, convinced he can
prevail militarily.
"The
earlier Bashar goes, the easier the transition in Syria will be," French
President Francois Hollande said on Thursday.
"The
longer it lasts, the greater the risk of civil war, chaos and partition. I
refuse to accept that."
Rebels
attacked a Syrian army base near the main northern highway on Thursday to try
to consolidate their control over the supply line to Aleppo, days after
capturing a strategic town in the area, opposition activists said.
They
used at least one tank seized from the army, as well as rocket-propelled
grenades and mortar bombs, to hit the Wadi al-Deif base, three km east of the
town of Maarat al-Nuaman, which they captured this week, they said.
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