ALBAWABA - Turkey's Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, revealed on Tuesday evening that contact had been lost with a plane. The aircraft, which had just taken off from Ankara en route to Tripoli, was carrying Libyan Army Chief of Staff Mohamed Ali al-Haddad and four other individuals.
Yerlikaya's post on X indicated the plane's departure was at 17:10 GMT. However, radio contact ceased at 17:52 GMT. He described how the plane had signaled for an emergency landing somewhere near Ankara, but then all communication abruptly stopped.
NTV, a Turkish broadcaster, stated that the missing plane is thought to be a private jet carrying al-Haddad. They also pointed out that flight-tracking services showed air traffic being rerouted away from Ankara's Esenboğa Airport after the event.
Earlier this week, Turkey's Ministry of Defense acknowledged that al-Haddad had visited Ankara. He was there for official discussions with Turkey's Chief of Staff and other high-ranking military officials.
