court sentenced a Palestinian citizen and his Turkish accomplice to 27.5 years in prison on charges of having links with al-Qaeda and an attempt to hijack an aircraft.

In March 2007, the two terrorists tried to seize a 757-200 Boeing aircraft, bound for Istanbul from northern Cyprus. Hijackers demanded to change the course of the aircraft and fly it to Iran. However, the pilots, under the pretext of refueling the aircraft, managed to land in Antalya, where the hijackers were forced to surrender to the police.

According to Turkish police, the Palestinian was trained at al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in 2004. The two hijackers were heading to Iran to join the terrorist organization, RIA Novosti reported quoting Turkish media.