Chronology of recent hijackings involving Turkey
Source: Reuters
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Two men hijacked a plane heading for Istanbul from northern Cyprus on Saturday, but gave themselves up and released their hostages after forcing the plane to land in southern Turkey. Here are other hijacks involving Turkey: June 1990 - Two men tried to hijack an Aeroflot plane travelling to Turkey with 165 on board. They were foiled by the pilot and crew and the KGB stormed the plane when it landed in Russia. July 1990 - A woman tried to hijack an Aeroflot Tu-134 to Turkey by pretending to have a bomb, but was overpowered when the plane landed at its original destination in Russia. Nov 1991 - An Aeroflot flight with 178 on board was hijacked by four armed men after leaving the Chechen capital Grozny and flown to Ankara. Turkey let the plane return to Grozny, where the hijackers released all passengers and crew. March 1996 - A young Turk with Chechen sympathies hijacked a North Cyprus Turkish Airlines Boeing 727 with 109 people on board en route from northern Cyprus to Istanbul. He diverted it to Sofia to refuel and then to Munich where he gave himself up. Feb 1998 - A man claiming to have a bomb in a teddy bear seized a Turkish Airlines plane with 68 people on board. The hijacker, who had demanded to be flown to Iran, surrendered the next day after passengers overpowered him. Sept 1998 - A Turkish Airlines flight carrying 76 people was hijacked by a Turk armed with a toy pistol. It ended after the plane was forced back to the Black Sea city of Trabzon. Oct 1998 - A hijacker supporting Kurdish separatists in eastern Turkey seized a Boeing 737 on a domestic flight from the southern city of Adana. He was killed when commandos stormed the plane in Ankara and freed the 40 passengers and crew. Oct 1999 - An EgyptAir Boeing 737 flying from Istanbul to Cairo was hijacked by an Arabic-speaking hijacker and landed in Hamburg where he quickly surrendered to German police. Feb 2001 - Police stormed a Turkish Airlines plane on the ground at Ataturk Airport and arrest a man after he held two crew members hostage claiming he carried a bomb. March 2001 - A Russian airliner flying from Istanbul to Moscow with 174 people on board was forced to fly to Saudi Arabia. The hijackers demanded an end to the war in Chechnya. One hijacker, a Russian flight attendant and a Turkish passenger were killed when Saudi forces storm the plane. March 2003 - A hijack of a Turkish plane ended in Athens without casualties. An Airbus 310 carrying 194 passengers and nine crew was hijacked the night before by a 19-year-old man. Oct 2006 - A man hijacked a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 with 107 passengers and six crew on board. He was captured. Aug 2007 - A Turkish passenger plane heading for Istanbul from northern Cyprus was hijacked and forced to land in southern Turkey, where the 136 passengers escaped or were set free and the hijackers surrendered to authorities.
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