A plane from the Israeli company El Al, which had to make an emergency landing at Antalya airport on Sunday to evacuate a sick passenger, was refused refueling by Turkish personnel, the carrier reported.
Flight LY5102 from Warsaw to Tel Aviv was forced to return to Rhodes, Greece, El Al said in a statement.
“Local workers (in Antalya) refused to refuel the company plane even though (the emergency landing) was for medical reasons,” she said.
Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed to AFP that the aircraft had been authorized to make an emergency landing because a passenger on board was unwell.
“The fuel was supposed to be transferred to the plane (…) but as the proper procedure was about to be finalized, the captain decided to leave on his own,” a Turkish diplomatic source said.
Deteriorated relationships
Relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by an attack by the Islamist Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7. Flights between the two countries have been suspended.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued numerous statements of support for the Palestinian movement Hamas and denounced the Israeli operation in Gaza.
The attack carried out by Hamas on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Its offensive in Gaza has so far left 37,877 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government.
