Belavia airline halts carrying Iraq, Syria, Yemen citizens from Turkey to Belarus
On Friday, the Belarusian national air carrier Belavia has announced pulling the plug on transporting Iraqi, Syrian, Yemeni nationals through Turkey to Belarus on the back of the latest decision taken by Ankara.
The corresponding information is available on Belavia’s official website.
“According to the decision of the competent authorities of Turkey please note that starting from 12th November 2021 the citizens of Iraq, Syria, Yemen will be denied boarding the flights from Turkey to Belarus,” the statement reads.
Belavia passengers affected by this restriction can make a full refund without penalty at the place of tickets issuance, the airline’s press added.
As reported earlier, Syrians, Iraqis and Yemenis will not be allowed to take Turkish Airlines’ flights to Minsk as well.
In the course of their meeting in Washington on November 10, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US leader Joe Biden touched upon a series of issues, including the current situation at the border with Belarus; von der Leyen described it as ‘a hybrid attack, not a migration crisis’ and said that the US President shared the view. The parties agreed to coordinate their outreach to the countries of origin so that they could prevent their citizens from ‘falling into the trap of the Lukashenka regime’, In addition, they voiced an intention to look into the possibility of sanctioning those airlines who ‘facilitate human trafficking to Minsk’.
