Plane carrying medical equipment to Cyprus diverted after Turkey refuses entry in its airspace

[Paphos Life]

Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos told CNA that Turkey did not give the pilot permission to enter the Turkish airspace before reaching Cyprus. The pilot had to divert the flight, as fuel was not enough to reach Cyprus, he added. ???The pilot changed route and is heading to Moscow airport, in Russia, in order to land and refuel,??? the Minister said....

Read the article and chat about it below...

[WHL]

Classless

[Flyer]

I thought Cyprus was giving some supplies to Northern Cyprus....best stop that then!!

[Dominic]

Why?

[Kili01]

There are dangers with Cyprus falling out with its neighbours over the drilling for gas. Maybe the reason that Turkey reacted the way that it did.

Dee

[WHL]

There are dangers with Cyprus falling out with its neighbours over the drilling for gas. Maybe the reason that Turkey reacted the way that it did.

Dee

Falling out with neighbours, you really are good for a laugh, Turkey is run by a despot dictator, who is hell bent on jailing everyone who opposes him, and yet you conveniently , put the blame on little Cyprus, no the reason Turkey reacted as it did, is because they like to bully other nations, but you carry on trying to defend the undefenceable.

[Dominic]

There are dangers with Cyprus falling out with its neighbours over the drilling for gas. Maybe the reason that Turkey reacted the way that it did.

Dee

Turkey is being the aggresor here. Turkey. Nobody else. Turkey.

[WHL]

I thought Cyprus was giving some supplies to Northern Cyprus....best stop that then!!

I hope not, at the end of the day humanitarian help should be for all living on this Island, the north's President got alot of flak from some of the north's extreme party's, but he ignored them, this is not the time to bow to bigots,

[Lincoln]

The plane was diverted to Russia for refuelling.

[memory man]

The plane was diverted to Russia for refuelling.

Yeah, it says that in the opening post.

[Cheshire Lad]

Let us understand that this is a Turkey/ Cyprus issue, not a north / south issue. Let’s no5 penalise the North in retaliation for what Turkey has done,

However, we will have long memories on 5his one.

Our citizens were put to an unnecessary risk

CL

[WHL]

Whatever...the good news is that Erdogan's days may be numbered. The plunging value of the Lira, deep recession in Turkey and failed interventions in Syria and Libya may, it seems, be bringing about the end of this despot.

Stories from a number of sources, but here's one: http://en.protothema.gr/is-a-coup-reall ... in-turkey/

Not a second to soon, this scum bag had taken, a Democratic secular, modern forward looking Country, into an Iran mk 2, he build himself a 1000 room palace, financed Isis, financed extreme murderous jihadi militias. In different conflicts, while dreaming of leading a new Ottoman empire, with him, as the Sultan, he has imprisoned more journalists then any other country on the planet, as we speak one musician has just died of hunger strike, with others close to death,

Islamist journalist Fatih Tezcan, another vocal supporter of Erdoğan, echoed a similar attitude on May 11, when he threatened the lives of women and children linked to hypothetical coup conspirators.

"The blood of millions will spill for a single drop of Erdoğan’s blood,” Tezcan said in a video he shared online.


.he tries to flood europe, with migrants, blackmailing and bullying anyone who dares question him, he now lays claims to Greek islands, and oil fields, that have no legal connection to Turkey, he placed his son in law as finance minister,so as to control every aspect of Turkish life, well this has back fired big time, the country is near financial calapse, it dosmt take Einstein to tell you spending billions on Russian missiles, a big chunk of your army in Syria etc etc, will bring your economy to its knees, and yet we still have the odd muppet, trying to justify his actions.
,

[WHL]

Whatever...the good news is that Erdogan's days may be numbered. The plunging value of the Lira, deep recession in Turkey and failed interventions in Syria and Libya may, it seems, be bringing about the end of this despot.

Stories from a number of sources, but here's one: http://en.protothema.gr/is-a-coup-reall ... in-turkey/

Not a second to soon, this scum bag had taken, a Democratic secular, modern forward looking Country, into an Iran mk 2, he build himself a 1000 room palace, financed Isis, financed extreme murderous jihadi militias. In different conflicts, while dreaming of leading a new Ottoman empire, with him, as the Sultan, he has imprisoned more journalists then any other country on the planet, as we speak one musician has just died of hunger strike, with others close to death,

Islamist journalist Fatih Tezcan, another vocal supporter of Erdoğan, echoed a similar attitude on May 11, when he threatened the lives of women and children linked to hypothetical coup conspirators.

"The blood of millions will spill for a single drop of Erdoğan’s blood,” Tezcan said in a video he shared online.


.he tries to flood europe, with migrants, blackmailing and bullying anyone who dares question him, he now lays claims to Greek islands, and oil fields, that have no legal connection to Turkey, he placed his son in law as finance minister,so as to control every aspect of Turkish life, well this has back fired big time, the country is near financial calapse, it dosmt take Einstein to tell you spending billions on Russian missiles, a big chunk of your army in Syria etc etc, will bring your economy to its knees, and yet we still have the odd muppet, trying to justify his actions.
,

I see you're quite a fan then

Just don't like egotistical bullies, where ever they might be on the planet

This from the Washington Post

AFTER APPEARING on a television talk show May 10, Yavuz Selim Demirag, a columnist for a Turkish newspaper who has been critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, was approached outside his home in Ankara, the capital. He heard shouts of “Hit him, kill him!” before he was pummeled with baseball bats. The attackers fled in a vehicle. He was hospitalized with a broken nose and brain trauma. This is what has become of Turkey’s once-vibrant democracy, now reduced to hit squads and fear.

Mr. Erdogan has fashioned Turkey’s political system into one of paramount presidential power, and since a failed coup attempt in July 2016, has waged a merciless campaign to silence critics. On March 31, his Justice and Development Party lost the races for mayor of Istanbul and Ankara. The defeat stung Mr. Ergogan, who was mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s; the city remains his political base. Soon thereafter, the Higher Election Council responded to ruling party pressure and scrapped the outcome and called for a fresh Istanbul contest on June 23. The opposition, the Republican People’s Party, denounced the move, saying its election victory had been stolen.

The journalist, Mr. Demirag, writes for a newspaper, Yenicag, that has been critical of the government and supports one of the parties in the opposition. Such voices are scant these days. Mr. Erdogan has carried out a purge of Turkish society, punishing his perceived enemies. He has closed 189 media outlets and jailed some 319 journalists. Turkey is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2019 index of press freedom. All told, 96,885 people have been arrested, 6,021 academics have been dismissed from their posts, and 4,463 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed in the purge.

Behind the numbers is a system of coercion and pressure. The beating of Mr. Demirag was clearly intended as a warning to other journalists not to speak out. Such topics as the coup attempt, conflict with the Kurds and Mr. Erdogan’s family wealth have been put off-limits by the president. Now he evidently has added the mayoral election to the taboo list, hoping to shut people up. The stolen election has become a major source of tension in Turkey, and prominent people are speaking out against it — making Mr. Erdogan nervous at a time when the economy is also sputtering.

The leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, visited Mr. Demirag in the hospital. “How can a journalist be beaten with intent to kill just because he participated in a program, voiced his views or criticized someone?” Mr. Kilicdaroglu said afterward. “Where is Turkey going to?”

The answer must be given bluntly: Mr. Ergogan’s expanding dictatorship is steering Turkey toward a dead end. Now baseball bats and hit squads are guiding it on its way.

[Jimgward]

This should have input from the EU - it’s one of their members being bullied on a humanitarian issue.

[Jimgward]

But the EU pays Turkey billions to manage the border, as well as lucrative trade deals... they are large enough to pressurise turkey