Citizens from Syria, Yemen and Iraq will no longer be allowed to buy flight tickets from Turkey to Minsk amid a migrant standoff between Belarus and the European Union, Turkey's Civil Aviation General Directorate (SHGM) said on Friday.
EU says Belarus is encouraging thousands fleeing war-torn parts of the world to try to cross its borders and may impose new sanctions on Belarus and airlines ferrying the migrants as soon as Monday.
Turkey and its flag-carrier Turkish Airlines have been accused of contributing to the migrant flow, an accusation it has rejected.
"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.
The Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia made a similar announcement on Friday.
"In line with a decision by the ... Turkish authorities, citizens of Iraq, Syria, Yemen will not be accepted for transportation on flights from Turkey to Belarus from 12.11.2021," it said in a statement on its website.
Belavia, which is barred from flying over the European Union after the grounding of a plane earlier this year, continues to fly to certain destinations.
