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Turkey not question legitimacy of cargo from Moscow-Damascus airplane

The Russian diplomat recalled that the airplane was carrying Russian citizens among its passengers

Фото EPA/ИТАР-ТАСС

Фото EPA/ИТАР-ТАСС

MOSCOW, October 18 (Itar-Tass) —— Turkey does not question the legitimacy of the cargo from the Moscow-Damascus airplane, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.

The Russian diplomat recalled that the airplane was carrying Russian citizens among its passengers. “The Russian ambassador in Ankara has already met twice with the leadership of the Turkish Foreign Ministry to receive the explanations about the incident,” Lukashevich said. “At the meetings the Turkish officials voiced regret over a long detention of Russian citizens on the airplane and no possibility for our diplomats to meet with them,” he noted. “All this was explained by the emergency situation, the delayed receiving of the information about the citizenship of the passengers and the following preparations of the airplane to a takeoff,” the spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

“Meanwhile, according to the information from several people onboard the airplane representatives of the Turkish law enforcement agencies showed a rude attitude to them and even used the measures of physical violence against the crewmen,” the diplomat noted.

In this respect, Moscow will insist on the need for “a very thorough investigation in all the details of the incident and the receiving of the explanations from the Turkish authorities.”

“As far as the confiscated cargo is concerned, Turkey essentially does not question the legitimacy of this delivery, but has some claims to the procedure of notification about the transportation,” Lukashevich said. “The statements about the ammunition onboard the airplane voiced initially were actually rejected by Turkish partners. Lukashevich stated again that “this was an absolutely legal cargo – the electric equipment for the radar station.”

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