ALEPPO—The first plane carrying relief supplies to Syria from Armenia landed safely at the Aleppo airport on Mon., Oct. 15, after stopping for a scheduled inspection in Erzerum, Turkey, the organizers reported.
The plane carrying supplies gathered from donors in Armenia and Artsakh—as part of the “Help Your Brother” campaign spearheaded by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)—was operated by the AIR Armenia company.
While Turkish and international media organizations reported the plane’s layover in Turkey as a forced landing, organizers and the Armenian Foreign Ministry clarified that the landing in Erzerum was agreed to by both sides.
Vahan Hovannesian, an ARF Parliamentary bloc member and the coordinator of the “Help Your Brother” campaign, told reporters that the plane was scheduled to be checked in Aintab, Turkey, but the cargo monitoring was diverted to Erzerum.
“There was nothing out of the ordinary about the landing in Turkey,” said Hovannesian. Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tirgan Balayan confirmed that landing in Turkey was prearranged.
“We received the permission with one precondition: The airplane must land in one of the Turkish airports for cargo search,” said AIR Armenia’s Arsen Avetisyan, adding that the company itself gave consent to landing at the Erzerum airport.
The “Help Your Brother” initiative, with assistance from the governments of Armenia and Artsakh, included food, clothing, medical supplies, and other essentials donated by Armenians or purchased through donations gathered by the people of Armenia and Artsakh.
While the assistance is a humanitarian effort from the people of Armenia to the people of Syria, the materials that arrived on Monday will be distributed through the Armenian Community Emergency Aid Coordinating Body and the Syrian Red Crescent.
Efforts are coming up nationwide, city by city, to help the beleaguered Armenians of Aleppo.
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