Turkey sends diplomatic note to Damascus over "violation" in shipment

Turkey on Thursday issued a diplomatic note to Syrian Consulate in Turkish largest city of Istanbul over "violation of civil aviation rules" in a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus. A civilian Syrian plane was forced to land in Esenboga Airport in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Wednesday and stayed at the airport for nine hours for inspection on suspicion of carrying military equipment destined for Syria. The receiver note on the cargo was the Syrian Defense Ministry, a Turkish official told Xinhua, adding that the cargo's bill of lading was misinformed by the Syrian authorities. Turkey's examination on the seized cargo, which has not been confiscated yet, was still underway, and might finalize on Thursday night, the official said. The plane, belonging to Syrian Airlines, was released after the search. The Syrian Airlines remained the only carrier connecting Moscow and Damascus, after Russia's flagship Aeroflot Airline canceled its flights in August, citing commercial reasons.