A Turkish Airlines passenger plane en route to Istanbul made a forced landing at Germany's Nuremberg Airport on Wednesday, after its left cockpit window shattered, the airline said.

The Dusseldorf to Istanbul flight diverted to Nuremberg, landing at 0658 GMT, a spokeswoman for the airline said.

Passengers were evacuated from the aircraft and taken to the terminal to wait for the next flight, whilst technical experts examined the damaged plane, the spokeswoman added.