ANKARA - Seizure of weapons in a container sent from Ukraine at Ambarli Customs in Istanbul was an individual smuggling case which did not have any diplomatic dimension, diplomatic sources said on Friday.
Diplomatic sources said investigation was under way but in light of current assessments, it was not a diplomatic issue as purchase of weapons was mentioned in formal documents of Ukraine and Egypt.
Noting that problem was related to intermediary companies which made wrong statements about kind of the cargo, sources said that carrier companies had shown the cargo in the ship's freight bill as spare parts.
Stressing that the Egyptian and Ukrainian ambassadors in Ankara called the Turkish Foreign Ministry and confirmed the purchase of weapons, sources said that neither of those two states was guilty, but it was an individual case of smuggling stemming from intermediary carrier companies.
(MS-AÖ) 04.06.2004