Past Turkish hijack dramas

Turkish international transport centres have been the focal point of a number of hijack dramas in recent years.

VIDEO Hijackers release some passengers from the Russian plane in Saudi Arabia Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO Saad al-Matrafi, journalist: "We do not know why the hijackers stopped releasing the passengers" 475K/44 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Terry Taylor, Institue for Strategic Studies: "It's Saudi Arabia which is responsible for the plane now" 340K/31 sec. AIFF or WAV sound CNN's Jane Arraf in Istanbul: "This is definitely an embarrassment for the Turkish Government" 713K/66 sec. AIFF or WAV sound CNN's Jane Arraf in Istanbul: "Hijackers may be Chechens" 213K/19 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Khaled Al-Maeena, journalist: "There's nothing religious about it" 486K/45 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     RESOURCES Anatomy of a Tupolev Tu-154     MESSAGE BOARD Airplane hijacking     ALSO Hijack a test for Putin Hijack relatives' anxious wait

Some have involved planes flying from Turkey, others en route to Turkish airports and one involved a Turkish ship in the Black Sea.

In March 1996, a hijacker armed with a bomb and handgun seized a Turkish Cypriot airliner taking off from northern Cyprus for Istanbul, Turkey. He surrendered to authorities at Munich airport, freeing more than 100 hostages.

The hijacker was thought to be trying to draw attention to the plight of Chechnya, where Russian troops have been engaged in a struggle to quell an independence movement.

Also in 1996, nine pro-Chechen gunmen, protesting against Moscow's attempt to quell a rebellion by Chechen separatists, hijacked a Turkish ship in the Black Sea and kept more than 200 people hostage for more than three days.

The hijackers - six Turks, two Chechens and an ethnic Abkhaz from Georgia - threatened to blow up the vessel and their hostages, but the ordeal ended quietly off Istanbul after a long odyssey through stormy seas.

In June 1997, two men hijacked an Air Malta airliner en route for Istanbul. There were 90 people on board.

The hijackers said they had a bomb and demanded the release of Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, who was serving a life sentence in Italy after trying to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981.

The men gave themselves up three hours after the plane landed in Cologne, Germany. No explosives were found on the aircraft.

A Turkish Airlines plane was hijacked shortly after takeoff from the southern city of Adana in February 1998.

The hijacker, claiming to be carrying a bomb inside a teddy bear, said he was on a mission from God.

Security forces disguised as caterers boarded the plane and captured the hijacker. Forty-one passengers and five crew members were still on board when he was captured. The bomb turned out to be a dummy.

Another Turkish airliner taking off from Adana was hijacked in October 1998. The hijacker, a Kurdish Worker's Party sympathiser, demanded to be flown to Switzerland.

The plane landed in Ankara after the crew convinced the hijacker they would need to refuel. There, an elite Turkish anti-terrorist team stormed the plane and killed him. No passengers or crew members were injured in the drama.

In October 1999, a hijacker armed with a knife seized control of an Egyptian airliner shortly after it took off from Istanbul, Turkey.

The motive and exact demands of the hijacker were unknown. He ordered the crew to take him to London but was told the plane did not have enough fuel.

He surrendered to German authorities after landing in Hamburg. None of the 48 passengers or six crew members aboard were harmed.

Turkish Transport Ministry (in Turkish)
Ataturk Istanbul Airport Turkey

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