Moscow demands Turkish explanations of incident with Syrian plane carrying Russians

12:02, 11.10.2012 1 min read

Russia demands explanations from Turkey with regard to the late Wednesday night incident with a Syrian passenger plane, which had Russian citizens aboard.

"Russia insists that the Turkish authorities must explain their conduct regarding the Russian citizens and prevent similar incidents in the future," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a commentary released on Thursday.

The Russian Embassy in Ankara demanded access to the Russian citizens; consulate workers and a doctor were sent to the airport. "Yet the Turkish authorities denied without explanations and in violation of the bilateral consular convention a meeting of the diplomats with the Russian citizens, who had been barred from the airport terminal for eight hours but sporadically allowed to stand on the tarmac," Lukashevich said.

"No food was supplied either," he said.