Turkey bans Syrians, Iraqis and Yemenis from flights to Belarus to curb
migrant crisis
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[November 12, 2021]
By Pawel Florkiewicz and Tuvan Gumrukcu
ANKARA/WARSAW (Reuters) - Turkey banned Syrian, Yemeni and
Iraqi citizens from flights to Minsk on Friday, potentially closing off
one of the routes used by migrants that the EU says have been flown in
by Belarus to create a deliberate humanitarian crisis on its frontier.
Thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, are sheltering in
freezing conditions in the woods on the frontiers between Belarus and
the EU states Poland and Lithuania, which are refusing to let them
cross. Some have already died and there are fears for the safety of the
rest as bitter winter conditions settle in.
The European Union accuses Belarus of creating the crisis as part of a
"hybrid attack" on the bloc - distributing Belarusian visas in the
Middle East, flying in the migrants and encouraging them to try to cross
the border illegally. Brussels may impose new sanctions on Belarus and
airlines it blames for ferrying the migrants, as soon as Monday.
Belarus denies that it manufactured the crisis, but has also said it
cannot help resolve it unless Europe lifts earlier sanctions, which the
EU imposed to punish President Alexander Lukashenko for a violent
crackdown on mass street protests against his rule in 2020.
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Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, threatened this week to cut off
Russian gas supplies to Europe through pipelines across Belarusian
territory. On Friday, the Kremlin appeared to distance itself from that
threat, saying it was not consulted in advance of Lukashenko's remarks
and that it would fulfil its gas delivery contracts.
European officials have repeatedly said their best hope of resolving the
crisis at the frontier is to stop would-be migrants in the Middle East
from boarding flights for Belarus in the first place.
Turkey has denied playing a direct role by allowing its territory to be
used to ferry in migrants. But Minsk airport's website listed six
flights arriving from Istanbul on Friday, the most from any city outside
the former Soviet Union.
Turkey's Civil Aviation General Directorate (SHGM) said on Friday it
would ban the sale of tickets on flight to Belarus to citizens from
Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia said
it would comply with the request.
"In relation to the illegal border crossing problem between the European
Union and Belarus, it has been decided for citizens from Iraq, Syria and
Yemen wanting to travel to Belarus from our country's airports not to be
sold tickets and not to be allowed on planes," the SHGM said on Twitter.
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Polish President Andrzej Duda visited the troops stationed near
Poland-Belarus border on Thursday evening as the country celebrated
its Independence Day amid tensions on its eastern frontier where
thousands of migrants were stranded in open air.
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European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas
welcomed the Turkish move.
EU foreign ministers may approve more Belarus sanctions on Monday
that could include individuals and companies, according to one
diplomat.
The bloc's executive commission said airlines that bring migrants
would be on the list, and two diplomats said the main airport in
Belarus was also being considered.
Polish authorities stopped two groups of migrants from crossing the
border from Belarus late on Thursday, private broadcaster TVN24
quoted local police as saying, marking a relatively quieter day in a
week of tense confrontations.
The Polish Border Guard said on Friday on Twitter there had been 223
attempts to illegally cross the border on Thursday.
Two incidents in the evening involved larger groups - one near
Kuznica Bialostocka where the Belarusian army tried to push some 35
people, mostly women and children, to the Polish side, and another
including a group of around 100 migrants near Polowce, the local
police said.
The Polish border guard said the number of migrants alongside the
two countries' border had risen to around 3,000-4,000.
Presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will meet on Monday in
Vilnius to discuss the crisis and be joined by video link by
Poland's president Andrzej Duda, the Lithuanian president's office
said on Friday.
(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in
Warsaw, Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Dmitry Antonov and Andrew Osborn
in Moscow; Writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Peter Graff)
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