A Turkish plane carrying 11 Palestinian prisoners, released as part of a deal that freed Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit, landed at an Ankara airport Wednesday

A Turkish plane carrying 11 Palestinian prisoners, released as part of a deal that freed Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit, landed at an Ankara airport Wednesday, a foreign ministry official said.

The plane landed at Esenboga airport in Ankara after bringing the 11 Palestinians, including one woman, from Cairo airport in Egypt, the official told AFP.

Television footage showed the freed inmates making victory signs as they were taken from the airport under tight security measures.

"We extend our deepest thanks to Turkey," the Palestinian ambassador to Turkey, Nabil Marouf, was quoted as saying by the private NTV television.

It was not immediately clear where the 11 Palestinian prisoners would stay and for how long. The Palestinian envoy said that would be decided by the Turkish government.

Turkey had said it was ready to host some of the released Palestinian detainees along with Qatar, Syria and Egypt.