Turkey denies permission for Israeli president's plane to fly to Astana
Turkey has not granted permission for the plane of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, heading to Astana, to fly through its airspace, reports the civil aviation news portal HavasosyalMedya.
"Due to Ankara's refusal, the route was changed, and the aircraft proceeded through Europe and Russia," the report states.
According to the publication, under a standard route, the plane could have flown through Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, significantly reducing travel time.
As a result of the route change, the flight from Tel Aviv to the capital of Kazakhstan took about eight hours.
Turkey's airspace is closed to all planes carrying weapons and to official Israeli delegations, but it remains open for regular civilian flights of third countries. Israeli airlines are allowed to use Turkish airspace for transit flights, a diplomatic source in Ankara stated earlier.
Turkey severed diplomatic relations with Israel following the start of the military operation in Gaza. Relations between the two countries are now conducted only through intelligence services when necessary.
Source: RIA Novosti
