No One Hurt, Hijacker Surrenders

What he said was a bomb was actually a bundle of candles. But for a while Saturday morning, authorities in both Turkey and Greece were worried his explosives might have been real and his threat to detonate them on board the Turkish Airlines flight would be realized.

The 20-year-old Turkish man was said to have been worried about family problems. He was arrested in Athens, Greece, Saturday after negotiating with both Turkish and Greek government leaders.

Police told reporters Ozgur Gencarslan was likely unarmed. The explosives he claimed to have turned out to be candles. "We want to confirm that with lab tests," one police official said on the condition that he not be named.

"All passengers are safe outside the airplane. That was our concern," Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said at Athens airport.

Greek Deputy Transport Minister Manolis Stratakis said Gencarslan had personal problems and that the hijack did not look to be politically motivated.

"It appears he had some psychological problems," Stratakis said.

Now THAT'S Over, Where To Hold The Trial?

Although Greek officials began a formal investigation, it was unclear if Gencarslan would be tried in Greece or returned to Turkey. Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said the hijacker would be sent home.

"The investigation will proceed in accordance with the criminal law and all legal procedures will be adhered to," Public Order Minister Michalis Chisohoidis told reporters.

Turkish authorities said the plane had 205 people aboard — 196 passengers and nine crew members — and had taken off from Istanbul for Ankara when it was hijacked 25 minutes after takeoff.

Turkish authorities earlier said the hijacker wanted to fly to Berlin and complained that his mother and sister were being kept "hostage."

Turkish Minister: "He Has Some Family Problems"

Several members of Turkey's Parliament were said to have been on board the flight. There was no immediate confirmation, however, from Greek authorities and passengers were whisked away immediately after they deplaned.

Greek anti-terrorist police earlier surrounded the Airbus A310 plane on the runway in Athens, and a top police official had been at the airport to negotiate with the hijacker. The Greek air force scrambled F-16 fighter jets to prevent the plane from landing, but officials quickly called them off.

According to Turkish police, Gencarslan hijacked the plane to reunite with his father, who lives in Germany, private NTV television said. He was reportedly depressed because his stepfather had barred him from seeing his mother and sister living in eastern Turkey, it added.

"He has some family problems, we've used a fatherly and understanding approach to convince him," Yildirim said.

Earlier, Turkish television broadcast interviews with passengers who spoke via mobile phones during the hijacking, while anxious friends and relatives waited in the nearby terminal (above).

"The hostess told us that a male hijacker was in the cockpit, and said he had strapped bombs onto his body," a passenger who identified himself as Sami told private NTV television by phone from the plane.

Frequently Hijacked Air Miles

The plane was parked in a remote corner of Athens' new Eleftherios Venizelos Airport. The airport opened in 2001 as part of Greece's drive to modernize before the Olympic games in the Greek capital next year. The Greek police have for months been training a special anti-terrorist squad to deal with hijackings and other terrorism at the airport as part of its preparations for the Olympics.

The last hijacking at Istanbul's airport was in February, when a lone hijacker claiming to have a bomb briefly held two flight attendants hostage before police stormed the aircraft. In 1998, a man carrying a teddy bear he claimed was stuffed with explosives commandeered a Turkish Airlines flight. The incident ended when he was overpowered by other passengers. Seven months later a man brandishing what turned out to be a toy gun hijacked another Turkish jetliner. He was persuaded to surrender.

A third hijacking that year ended in bloodshed when security officials stormed a plane on the tarmac at Ankara airport and shot dead a Kurdish rebel armed with a hand grenade. No passengers were hurt.

FMI: www.turkishairlines.com