Aircraft with Azerbaijani Journalists, Brought Back Because of Information on a Bomb

A flight this morning by Turk Hava Yolları (Turkish Airlines) from Istanbul to Chisinau was canceled after the plane was preparing for takeoff.

The reason was due to information about finding a bomb on board, said Turkish agency Ihlas.

According to the agency, a search on board was conducted and one person has been arrested.

It is noteworthy that this flight to Chisinau was for a media conference and persons on board had a delegation of Azerbaijnis; which included deputy head of the public policy department of the Presidential Administration Arastun Mehdiyev, head of the Press Council Aflatun Amashov, regional coordinator of the joint EU and Council of Europe on media Shahin Abbasov, Director of the Institute for Liberty and Safety (IRFS) Emin Huseynov and manager of the Media Rights Institute Khalid Agaliev.

"We were to take off at 7.45 on the Istanbul time. The aircraft was driving on the runway, when we went back and were evacuated from the plane.

We were told explosives were on the board. Now inspection of the baggage is being conducted," said IRFS Director Emin Huseynov on a phone interview with Turan at 13.40 Baku time.

He said that the members of the Azerbaijani delegation are all right, and they expect the flight to Chisinau.

However, passengers do not know when the flight to the Moldavian capital will take place. -06B –