Turkmenistan allows transit to Czech military plane

Czech military airplane flying to Afghanistan, which was denied transit over Turkmenistan on Friday, has left Prague again after receiving a written permit from Turkmen authorities. The plane is carrying Afghan children who were treated in the Czech Republic, soldiers who are returning from holiday back to the Afghan mission as well as part of a new contingent.

The Czechs were given a verbal promise on Friday that they could fly over Turkmenistan but the country’s authorities eventually refused to issue a written permit and the plane had to return to the Czech Republic. The plane took off from Prague’s Kbely airport once again on Saturday after it was given a written consent. Czech planes had encountered similar problems with Turkmen authorities in 2006 and 2007.