The man claimed there was a bomb on board the Pegasus Airlines aircraft, tried to gain access to the cockpit and was carrying a detonator, the unconfirmed reports said.
The pilot managed to sound the alert and an F-16 Turkish military jet was scrambled, forcing the plane with some 110 passengers on board to land in Istanbul, the reports said.
Turkish anti-terrorist commandos and armed police were searching all the passengers the aircraft for explosives, the reports said.