al Qaeda members hijack passenger plane, attempt to land in Tehran

Associated Press ^ | August 18, 2007 | Staff

[ikez78]

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Self-proclaimed al-Qaida members hijacked a Turkish airliner on its way from Northern Cyprus to Istanbul on Saturday, the private television station NTV reported. The hijackers demanded that the airplane be flown to Tehran, Iran, said Tuncay Doganer, CEO of the private Atlasjet airline company. But the plane landed at an airport in Antalya, a Turkish province on the Mediterranean coast, after pilots said there was not enough fuel to fly to Iran, Doganer said. There were 136 passengers and six crew on board the plane, Doganer said. He said some of the passengers had been released. However, a relative of one of the passengers on board the plane told NTV that passengers broke down the rear exit of the plane and escaped, and that only the airliner's crew remained on board. The hijackers appeared to be Turkish, the man said, as he spoke to his nephew by telephone. Cyprus has been divided between a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish-occupied north since 1974, when Turkey invaded after an abortive Athens-backed coup by supporters of union with Greece.

[Darkwolf377]

If this is the best they can do, it shows the effectiveness of the WOT.

The DUmmies, of course, will say this is proof they were never much to begin with, but all one has to do is see how their organization was rising up till 9/11.

[GOP Poet]

So this is the best they can do? Shows old George may just know what he’s doing aye?

[Cindy]

SPECULATION-Opinion:

Hmmmm...

Is this part of a trend or an isolated incident?

Time will tell.

[SolidWood]

Hard to figure out what the background to this could be.
“Self proclaimed” al-Qaeda trying to hijack a Turkish plane and to land in Tehran? What purpose?

[Pro-Bush]

Poor planning, lol.

[Cindy]

from you post...

SNIPPET: “The hijackers had asked that the Atlastjet Airlines plane be diverted to Iran or Syria...”

ON THE ‘NET...

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html

http://www.memri.org/syria.html

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=iran&ID=IA38007

Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 380
August 14, 2007 No.380

“The Strategic Alliance Between Iran and Syria – Military and Economic Aspects”
By Y. Mansharof and O. Winter

[Cindy]

Google - Search News - by Relevance:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&um=1&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=atlasjet&btnG=Search+News

[Cindy]

UPDATE:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-08/18/content_6032980.htm

“Turkish passenger plane hijacked”
(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-18 15:33

ISTANBUL, Turkey -

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Most of the passengers managed to escape from the rear exit of the plane while the hijackers were releasing the women from the front exit, one passenger told the private Turkish television station NTV.

Doganer said only crew and “a small number” of passengers were left on board. CNN-Turk television said two crew — possibly the pilots — and nine passengers were still inside.

It was not clear how many hijackers were on board. The passenger, who was not identified, said the hijackers were speaking Arabic among themselves.

Doganer said there were 136 passengers on board when the plane left Ercan airport in northern Cyprus.”

[Cindy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6952594.stm

Last Updated: Saturday, 18 August 2007, 07:30 GMT 08:30 UK

“Hijack attempt on Turkish plane”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “It is thought the hijackers do not possess weapons, but appear to carry what is thought to be a bomb, Mr Doganer told Turkish TV.

Passengers told local TV that the hijackers were tall, dark skinned, apparently speaking Arabic and claiming to be from al-Qaeda.”

[Nextrush]

Numerous Turkish TV stations with coverage of this like NTV, Sky Turk and TRT 2.

I am watching TRT 2 right now.

[Cindy]

Great.
Could you post the link for me if you have it?

Thanks.

[Cindy]

Ping.

[Nextrush]

I use a portal

http://www.wwitv.com

Click the English link on the home page, then on the index page scroll down the menu on the left to Turkey and click.

You will see Turkish stations on menu in middle and can scroll down to TRT 2 and click the green 100k in the middle.

[Cindy]

Thanks.

[Cindy]

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/apdetailspage.php?id=c6ceaa15f11295f6a196525881e3a8b38267861

“Turkish airplane hijacked on way from Northern Cyprus to Istanbul”

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The governor’s office in Antalya announced that only four
passengers and two crew members were left on the plane.
Aydin Kiziltan, CEO of Worldfocus, which had loaned the
plane to Atlas-Jet said the pilots had also left the
aircraft to prevent the hijackers from forcing them to fly
the plane.”

180750 aug 07GMT

[Cindy]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186557476634&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Aug. 18, 2007 11:14 | Updated Aug. 18, 2007 11:17
“Hijacked plane lands safely in Antalia”
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The hijackers allowed one of the gates on the side of the plane to be opened for fresh air after the air conditioning was switched off and some passengers fainted. The hijackers later freed the women and children, ordering the men to sit down, said a female passenger.

But some of the men also jumped out and others men broke the rear door and escaped, the passenger said.

The pilots communicated with the hijackers through a telephone outside the cockpit cabin.

Two passengers identified themselves as Al Qaida members, but the plane was taken over by just a single person. He claimed to have collaborators among the passengers.

Troops of the Turkish military surrounded the plane and stopped from taking off again, arresting the hijacker shortly afterwards.”

[ArmstedFragg]

From the TRT coverage, it looks like the airport’s operating normally, and all the vehicles near the plane have left. I can’t see anybody surrounding it at the moment.

[ArmstedFragg]

Sorta confirms the Post story. In some of the replay footage, you can see what appears to be military surrounding the plane, then running to the rear when the passengers started bailing out the wing exit. Looks like there was no cockpit breach, and the pilots just split once they got it on the ground. Don’t know what the means of egress for the flight crew is on that particular aircraft.