THE Turkish Cypriot side has defended security at Tymbou (Ercan) airport after Saturday’s hijacking of an Atlas Jet plane flying from the north to Turkey.
‘Prime Minister’ Ferdi Sabit Soyer said all security units at the airport had acted correctly and the fact that the alleged bomb on board the plane turned out to be play dough, confirmed that, he said.
Two men hijacked the airliner heading for Istanbul but gave themselves up and released their hostages after forcing the plane to land in southern Turkey.
Fifteen minutes after take-off, one of the hijackers tried to force the cockpit door open and told passengers he was a member of al Qaeda.
Police also arrested a passenger suspected of being linked to the hijackers. Turkish Cypriot passenger Ercan Tekkan told Reuters the hijackers had said they had a bomb, but did not want to hurt anyone.
Soyer said an emergency crisis desk had been set up at Ercan from the minute the hijacking was reported and said the incident ended peacefully “thanks to the outstanding co-operation between the TRNC and Turkish authorities.” He also said that Mehmet Resat Ozlu, one of the two hijackers, had entered the north on March 8 this year. The second man was named as Egyptian-born Mommen Abdul Aziz Talikh. He was said to have trained at an al Qaeda terrorist camp.
In their statements to Turkish police, the hijackers said they regretted their actions and that their aim was only to take refuge in Iran or Syria and start a new life.
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibrisli referred to a report published on Sunday in Hurriyet newspaper saying that Turkish and US intelligence agencies had warned in May that Palestinian terrorists would go to the north.
The hijackers, who lived together in a house in occupied Kyrenia, were being watched by police, the paper said.
One Turkish Cypriot passenger Zekavet Tayanc told Gunes newspaper that the hijackers were standing in front of him in the line before passing through X-ray control.
Tayanc noted that confusion was created after a weapon was seen during the X-ray control of another passenger’s suitcase. Because of the confusion, everybody who went after, including the hijackers, passed without being searched, he said.
Reports on the Greek Cypriot side yesterday said intelligence agency KYP was looking into whether any Greek Cypriots were on board the hijacked flight.
