Hijackers seeking to send a message to Pope Benedict seized control of a Turkish passenger plane flying from the Albanian capital Tirana to Istanbul on Tuesday, and were forced by interceptor jets to land in Italy.
”As far as we know, the hijackers want to talk with Italian authorities to send a message to the Pope,” a spokesperson for Italy’s civil aviation authority Enac told Reuters. The airport was immediately closed.
Turkish Airlines told Turkish NTV television that they had established contact with pilot Mursel Gokalp, who said the passengers were all well and the hijackers were unarmed.
The pilot also said the aircraft’s doors were locked and no one had yet boarded the plane.
NTV said two Turks had hijacked the plane and were said to be ready to surrender. The report could not be immediately confirmed.
Turkish television earlier quoted police sources as saying the plane had been hijacked in protest at the Pope’s pending visit to Turkey. The Vatican had no immediate comment.
Turkish Airlines issued a statement saying:
”Two people forced our TK1476 flight from Tirana to Istanbul to divert to Italy …. It landed without problem at Brindisi airport in Italy. Our passengers do not have any problems.”
Pope Benedict upset many Muslims around the world with a speech last month that used a medieval quotation linking the spread of the Islamic faith to violence.
He has since said he regrets the offence caused and that he was misunderstood. But Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has been one of those who have said they are not entirely satisfied with the apology.
A Greek Defence Ministry official said the plane, carrying 107 passengers and a crew of six, entered Greek air space at 5.58pm and was soon escorted out by the Greek fighter jets.
”The plane sent the [coded hijack] signal twice while in Greek air space. Four Greek fighter jets took off and accompanied the plane as it left Greek air space towards the Italian city of Brindisi,” the official told Reuters.
The Italian air force later said it had intercepted the flight, which then landed at Brindisi.
Benedict is due to visit Ankara, Istanbul and the ancient site of Ephesus as a guest of Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer from November 28 to December 1. A number of planes have been hijacked to or from Turkey in the past decade, either by Kurdish rebels or hijackers with Chechen or Islamist sympathies. — Reuters