Athens
A Turkish man brandishing candlesticks that he claimed were explosives hijacked a plane from Istanbul this week, demanding to fly to Germany to see relatives. The Turkish Airlines flight, originally heading for the capital, Ankara, changed course several times before landing in Athens to refuel. As Greek anti-terrorist police surrounded the plane, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan spoke with the hijacker, Ozgur Gencarslan, by telephone and persuaded him to relinquish the plane. None of the more than 200 passengers, among them several high-level Turkish officials, were injured. Gencarslan, 20, is undergoing psychiatric evaluation in Greece. “He has some family problems,” Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said. “We used a fatherly and understanding approach to convince him” to surrender.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Conservative megadonors build a new bank thanks to Trump administration approvalIN THE SPOTLIGHT With a Lord Of The Rings-inspired name, and the backing of some of the biggest GOP financiers around, Erebor Bank is set to make major waves in the crypto world
-
Political cartoons for October 20Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include a $40 billion bailout for Argentina, Prince Andrew's titles, chaos at the CDC, and more
-
From Da Vinci to a golden toilet: a history of museum heistsIn the Spotlight Following the ‘spectacular’ events at the Louvre, museums are ‘increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs’
