Misunderstood Arabic script triggers alarm in Turkish Airlines aircraft: Report
ISTANBUL
An Arabic prayer, initially thought to be linked to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists, triggered alarm in Istanbul’s main airport after it was found on the engines of several Turkish Airlines (THY) aircraft on Oct. 12.The THY staff were alarmed to discover the Arabic script on the aircraft’s engine after it arrived at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport from Berlin, according to the airport news website airporthaber.com.
The police then discovered that three further aircraft had similar Arabic script written on their engines, however, the investigation revealed that the writing was an Arabic-language prayer for blessings and fertility, not a propaganda piece for ISIL as some had initially feared.
The episode did reveal a lack of security at the airport, however, as the people who had written the prayers on the engines were not able to be identified, due to the lack of security cameras watching where the planes had parked.
