Turkish air forces compelled Syrian Air passenger plane heading from Moscow to Damascus over suspicions that it was carrying "non-civilian" cargo.

      Ankara granted the Syrian plane a departure clearance after a nine-hour inspection, when Turkish security confiscated its suspicious cargo. All the plane's passengers were detained in the airport for that time.

      According to the preliminary information, about 35 passengers were on board, 17 Russians among them, with childrens.

      Russia’s Foreign Ministry has already expressed anger Moscow was not informed that Russians were involved in the incident, and that their diplomats were denied access to them.

      The Russian embassy in Turkey demanded access to the Russian citizens and dispatched consular officers and doctors to the Ankara airport. Turkish authorities, however, denied the Russian diplomats access to the passengers, in violation of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.