Minister leaves plane on protests

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Passengers on an Anadolu Jet plane reportedly protested Minister Şahin. DHA photo

Plane passengers jeered Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin in the northern province of Trabzon, after he got on the plane bound for the capital city of Ankara 20 minutes late on June 18, according to daily Akşam.

The protest of clapping and whistles continued until Şahin left the plane, according to sources.

Passengers started the protest as the Anadolu Jet plane did not take off at the scheduled time of 8.45 p.m. Passengers realized that the delay was due to the lateness of the Minister Şahin, so they started to protest his presence when he got on the plane at 21:05, sources said. Şahin assumed that passengers were cheering for him and stood up to salute them. But it was not long before he understood he was mistaken.

Many passengers said they were on a connecting flight to access other cities from Ankara and that they were worried about missing their flights.

The minister flew to Istanbul instead of Ankara by another plane. Anadolu is a subsidiary of national flag carrier Turkish Airlines.

The Turkish Airlines press office said the reason for the delay was not Şahin, but that take off was delayed due to operational problems. Passengers misunderstood the situation, they said.