Ankara under suspicion
Turkish Airlines should increasingly fly migrants to Minsk
An Airbus A321neo from Turkish Airlines, as it is also used on the route from Istanbul to Minsk.
© Mirko Hannemann / Picture Alliance
According to media reports, planes are increasingly transporting refugees from Turkey to Belarus. But the semi-state airline Turkish Airlines denies it.
Turkish Airlines has denied media reports that the airline is targeting migrants from Turkey to Belarus. “The news in the media is not true,” said Turkish Airlines.
“Our company works with international authorities on flights around the world, taking into account all security sensitivities and carrying out its operations to this extent,” it said.
“Putin and Erdogan’s smugglers flight plan”
Previously, among other things, the “Bild” newspaper with the lurid headline “The smugglers’ flight plan of Putin and Erdogan” reported that Turkey was flying migrants into Belarus with the help of the semi-state Turkish Airlines in order to support the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko .
Ranking of the airlines: These are the twelve largest airlines in the world
12 images
The Polish government and the EU accuse Lukashenko of allowing the migrants to be brought into the country in order to then smuggle them into the EU. Lukashenko himself, often criticized as the “last dictator of Europe”, announced that he would no longer stop people on their way to Europe – as a reaction to Western sanctions against Belarus.
According to the current winter flight schedule, Turkish Airlines flies to Belarus ten times a week. In the summer months there were 14 flights a week. The airline currently has one or two direct flights to Minsk from Istanbul every day. The Belarusian airline Belavia also flies to Minsk from Istanbul up to twice a day.
Also read:
– Turkish Airlines jet loses landing gear on landing
– Immediately after take-off in Istanbul: Heavy hail wrecked holiday fliers
– First failed attempt, then crash landing: Turkish Airlines pilot struggles with the runway