Turkey releases Syrian plane

Turkish officials have said that they have confiscated "objectionable cargo" from a Syrian passenger jet intercepted en route from Moscow to Damascus, Al Jazeera reported.

Aviation authorities diverted the airliner, carrying some 30 passengers, grounding it for more than eight hours on Wednesday. It has now been allowed to leave Turkey.

The A-320 plane had been escorted by two Turkish fighter jets to Ankara's Esenboga Airport on suspicion it was carrying military equipment.

The incident marks a further deterioration in relations between Turkey and Syria, already stretched by days of cross-border shelling.

"There is illegal cargo on the plane that should have been reported" in line with civil aviation regulations, said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

"There are elements on board that can be considered objectionable," he added. "We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres of civilians. It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace."

In a related development, Turkish authorities declared Syrian airspace to be "unsafe" and were stopping Turkish aircraft from flying over the war-torn country.