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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Russia Says Impounded Syrian Plane Had Radar Gear | Russia Says Impounded Syrian Plane Had Radar Gear |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister said Friday that a civilian Syrian jetliner impounded by Turkey on accusations it was transporting Russian military cargo illicitly to Syria was only carrying electronic components for a radar station, and that such equipment fell within the bounds of international agreements. | MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister said Friday that a civilian Syrian jetliner impounded by Turkey on accusations it was transporting Russian military cargo illicitly to Syria was only carrying electronic components for a radar station, and that such equipment fell within the bounds of international agreements. |
| “We have no secrets,” the minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said in a televised statement. “We have studied the situation: there were no weapons on this airplane, of course, and there could not be. On the airplane there was cargo, which a legal Russian shipper sent via legal means to a legal customer.” | “We have no secrets,” the minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said in a televised statement. “We have studied the situation: there were no weapons on this airplane, of course, and there could not be. On the airplane there was cargo, which a legal Russian shipper sent via legal means to a legal customer.” |
| Mr. Lavrov’s statement was the most detailed public explanation yet from Russia in its dispute with Turkey over the Moscow-to-Damascus flight of the Syrian jetliner, which was intercepted by Turkish warplanes on Wednesday and forced to land in Ankara, where the 35 passengers and crew were forced to wait for hours. Turkish inspectors examined the aircraft and impounded what Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey described on Thursday as Russian munitions bound for Syria’s Defense Ministry. | Mr. Lavrov’s statement was the most detailed public explanation yet from Russia in its dispute with Turkey over the Moscow-to-Damascus flight of the Syrian jetliner, which was intercepted by Turkish warplanes on Wednesday and forced to land in Ankara, where the 35 passengers and crew were forced to wait for hours. Turkish inspectors examined the aircraft and impounded what Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey described on Thursday as Russian munitions bound for Syria’s Defense Ministry. |
| The plane was permitted to leave on Thursday but both Russia and Syria protested the Turkish actions, Russia demanded a further explanation and Syria said it would file a formal complaint with international aviation authorities. | The plane was permitted to leave on Thursday but both Russia and Syria protested the Turkish actions, Russia demanded a further explanation and Syria said it would file a formal complaint with international aviation authorities. |
| Earlier Friday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it had still not received the requested information from the Turks. | Earlier Friday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it had still not received the requested information from the Turks. |
| “We continue to insist on receiving this data and we hope the information will be presented in the near future,” an unidentified official from the Foreign Ministry told Russia’s Interfax news agency. | “We continue to insist on receiving this data and we hope the information will be presented in the near future,” an unidentified official from the Foreign Ministry told Russia’s Interfax news agency. |
| A Turkish diplomat told Interfax that Ankara was still investigating and would contact Russia when it finished the inquiry. | |
| The developments have aggravated the combustible atmosphere enveloping the conflict in Syria, where a 19-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad has turned into a civil war that threatens to destabilize the Middle East. Turkey is a major backer of the insurgents trying to topple Mr. Assad and has hinted it may take military action against his forces because of the conflict, which has sent more than 100,000 Syrian refugees into Turkey. Russia is the major arms supplier to Mr. Assad’s government. | The developments have aggravated the combustible atmosphere enveloping the conflict in Syria, where a 19-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad has turned into a civil war that threatens to destabilize the Middle East. Turkey is a major backer of the insurgents trying to topple Mr. Assad and has hinted it may take military action against his forces because of the conflict, which has sent more than 100,000 Syrian refugees into Turkey. Russia is the major arms supplier to Mr. Assad’s government. |
| Fighting between Syrian insurgents and Mr. Assad’s forces convulsed northern Syria near the Turkish border, with unconfirmed reports that rebels had seized control of a strategic highway into the embattled city of Aleppo that the Syrian Army used to resupply its troops. | Fighting between Syrian insurgents and Mr. Assad’s forces convulsed northern Syria near the Turkish border, with unconfirmed reports that rebels had seized control of a strategic highway into the embattled city of Aleppo that the Syrian Army used to resupply its troops. |
| The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based antigovernment group with a network of contacts inside Syria, calculated that at least 87 soldiers were killed in fighting around the country on Thursday. If true, this would be the military’s heaviest one-day casualty toll since the conflict began. It was impossible to verify the claim. | The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based antigovernment group with a network of contacts inside Syria, calculated that at least 87 soldiers were killed in fighting around the country on Thursday. If true, this would be the military’s heaviest one-day casualty toll since the conflict began. It was impossible to verify the claim. |
| Mr. Erdogan declined to say how the Turks had come to suspect that the plane was carrying matériel that is prohibited on civilian jetliners or specify precisely what had been discovered. But he said an examination of the aircraft had shown “there was such equipment inside.” | |
Ellen Barry reported from Moscow, and Rick Gladstone from New York. | Ellen Barry reported from Moscow, and Rick Gladstone from New York. |