HIJACKING OF THY FLIGHT 1476 ON OCTOBER 3, 2006

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SUBJECT: HIJACKING OF THY FLIGHT 1476 ON OCTOBER 3, 2006


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1. (U) Turkish Deputy Director General for Civil
Aviation, Haydar Yalcin, described for us the October 3
hijacking of Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 flight 1476.
Yalcin said Turkish national Hakan Ekinci seized control
of the flight soon after its departure from Tirana in
route to Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport.
Early press reports indicated that two men had seized
the aircraft in protest of the Pope's planned trip to
Turkey in November. However, these reports proved
false. Yalcin told us that during his conversations
with Ekinci (as the Chair of Turkey's Emergency Action
Committee, he talked with the hijacker via telephone
during the incident),Ekinci indicated that he boarded
the plane in Tirana with the intention of hijacking it
and taking it to Rome to request asylum from the Pope.
Ekinci, in order to avoid fulfilling his mandatory
military service requirement in Turkey, went AWOL from
the Turkish military and fled to Albania. There he
requested asylum as a "Christian Conscientious Objector"
who refused to serve in a Muslim military. Ekinci's
request for asylum was denied, and he was being returned
to Istanbul from Albania to face charges. Officials at
Istanbul Ataturk International Airport confirmed that
they had been alerted and were prepared to arrest him
upon arrival.


2. (U) Reportedly, Ekinci stormed the cockpit when the
flight attendants were serving food to the crew and
claimed that a second passenger on the back of the plane
was carrying a bomb. No weapons or explosives have been
found on the plane, and Italian authorities are
reportedly still investigating whether or not a second
passenger was involved. The pilot was able to transmit
a hijack alert signal, which caused Greek military
aircraft to scramble. The plane was met by Italian
aircraft when it reached Italian airspace. Ekinci
demanded to be taken to Rome, but Italian military
aircraft forced the plane to land at Brindisi Airport.
Ekinci agreed to surrender soon after landing, requested
asylum in Rome, and apologized to his fellow passengers
as he was taken into custody by Italian authorities. No
one was injured during the incident.


3. (SBU) According to Yalcin, Turkish Airlines planes
have been fitted with reinforced cockpit doors in
keeping with international requirements. There are,
however, no prohibitions on opening the cockpit doors
during flights. The GOT is finalizing its Air Marshal
program but has not yet begun deploying Marshals on
Turkish-owned airline flights. Yalcin praised the
crew's response and stated that they followed standard
procedures to the letter. "The captain," he added,
"remained calm and maintained control of the situation
throughout the entire ordeal."


4. (SBU) According to the plane's manifest, there were
107 passengers aboard the plane, four of which were
Americans (including one U.S. diplomat) and one of which
was the LPR spouse of an American. Five passengers,
including Ekinci, were Turks, and 80 were Albanian.
There were also six (presumably Turkish) crew members
aboard.
WILSON