The plane carrying Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made an emergency landing Sunday evening at Ankara airport due to a “technical emergency,” according to the Spanish Prime Minister’s office.
The office added that “the Spanish delegation will spend the night in Ankara and will resume its journey to Armenia on Monday,” without going into any details related to the nature of the problem that arose.
An unnamed source told AFP that Sanchez’s plane made an emergency landing in Ankara due to a “technical problem” which he did not specify.
Sanchez is heading to the Armenian capital Yerevan to participate in the eighth summit of the European Political Forum, the informal forum that brings together twice a year the leaders of almost all European countries, whether or not they are members of the European Union, with the exception of Russia and Belarus.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is also invited to the summit.
This will be the first participation of a non-European country in a meeting of the European Political Group, in a move that embodies the growing rapprochement between Europe and Canada to strengthen their position in the face of US President Donald Trump.
The Spanish Prime Minister is highly regarded in Türkiye for his support of the Palestinian cause and his opposition to the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran.
