Two Turkish men decided to show their disapproval of the Pope’s criticisms of Islamic violence by hijacking a plane. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

I’ve completely run out of “irony” quips.

Hijackers seeking to send a message to Pope Benedict seized control of a Turkish passenger plane flying from the Albanian capital Tirana to Istanbul on Tuesday, and were forced by interceptor jets to land in Italy.

“As far as we know, the hijackers want to talk with Italian authorities to send a message to the Pope,” a spokesperson for Italy’s civil aviation authority Enac told Reuters. The airport was immediately closed.

Turkish Airlines told Turkish NTV television that they had established contact with pilot Mursel Gokalp, who said the passengers were all well and the hijackers were unarmed.

The pilot also said the aircraft’s doors were locked and no one had yet boarded the plane.

NTV said two Turks had hijacked the plane and were said to be ready to surrender. The report could not be immediately confirmed.

Turkish television earlier quoted police sources as saying the plane had been hijacked in protest at the Pope’s pending visit to Turkey. The Vatican had no immediate comment.

UPDATE at 10/3/06 1:47:49 pm:

Whoa, Nellie! It looks like some bad information was spread about this one; the single hijacker was actually trying to appeal to the Pope to help him avoid serving as a Christian in Turkey’s Muslim army: Passengers safe as hijacking ends.

Earlier reports on Tuesday that two hijackers were protesting Pope Benedict XVI’s planned visit to Turkey were apparently incorrect; authorities now say that the single hijacker has requested political asylum.

The hijacker, who according to passengers sneaked into the cockpit when the rest of the crew was busy, told the pilot there were two hijackers, Italian police said. But passengers have reported seeing only one.

Turkish officials said the hijacker, identified as Hasan Ekinci, wrote a letter to the pope in August asking for help in avoiding service in the Turkish army.

“I am a Christian and don’t want to serve a Muslim army,” he wrote, adding that he had been attending church since 1998.