Turkey intercepts Syria-bound plane 'carrying arms'

ISTANBUL - Turkey intercepted a Syria-bound cargo plane which took off in Armenia and was suspected of carrying arms, Today's Zaman newspaper reported Thursday.

An Antonov AN 12 cargo plane was forced to land at an airport in Turkish eastern Erzurum province at 6:12 am local time (0412 GMT), the newspaper said.

The aircraft was declared to be carrying humanitarian aid to Syria, but Turkish security forces are currently investigating the plane for arms, according to the report.

Last month, Turkey gave an all-clear for an Armenian plane to continue on its journey to the Syrian city of Aleppo after ordering it to land in eastern Turkey for a cargo search.

Turkey is trying to prevent its air space from being used for the supply to the Syrian military and forced down a Syrian airliner travelling from Moscow last month.