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Turkish police quiz hijacking suspect

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ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) -- Authorities at Ankara's airport are questioning a man they believe tried to hijack a Turkish airliner -- possibly to Iran -- transport officials and passengers told CNN Turk Tuesday.

The suspect, Mehmed Goksin Gol, was not armed and all 178 passengers and crew aboard the Pegasus Airlines flight are safe, Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said.

"We hope to find out what his goal was," Yildirim said at a news conference.

He said Turkish security forces are investigating reports in the Turkish media that Gol had an extensive criminal record.

Turkey's Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said no explosives were found on the plane, and the suspect was taken to the terrorism investigation unit in Ankara.

"All passengers are off the plane," Aksu said.

The flight was heading from southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir to Istanbul, but landed at Ankara's airport, where the suspect was detained.

One passenger, Firat Keles, told CNN Turk that the suspect tried to approach the cockpit, and told the flight crew he had something in his belt and wanted to fly to Iran. Keles said the man, who was in his 30s, did not look suspicious and did not appear to be threatening anyone.

Pegasus airlines president Ali Sabanci said there was no threat to the cockpit, which was locked, and there was no contact between the hijacker and the pilots.

The incident came six months after a Turkish man hijacked a Turkish jetliner to Italy, apparently in an attempt to avoid service in the Turkish army. All 113 crew and passengers were released unharmed at a military airfield in Brindisi, Italy.

CNN's Talia Kayali in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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