Turkey bans Macedonian football team from flying over its territory

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
June 2, 2005, Thursday
23:17:07 Central European Time

Skopje

The Macedonian national football team failed to reach the Armenian
capital Yerevan Thursday when Turkish air traffic control banned
the team’s Macedonian plane from flying over Turkish territory,
local media reported.

The Macedonian footballers, who are scheduled to play a Group One
World Cup qualifier against Armenia on Saturday, were forced back to
Skopje without clear explanation for the decision.

The Ankara-based Turkish air traffic control ordered the Macedonian
national carrier MAT plane to return to Skopje roughly 90 minutes
after it entered Turkish air space, the report said.

Skopje media attributed the incident to uneasy political relations
between Turkey and Armenia. An official explanation from Ankara
is expected to be delivered to Macedonian footballing officials
Saturday. dpa ra gj