Laptop ban aims to hinder business as Turkish Airlines flies high: Minister

New restrictions on in-cabin large electronic devices on flights from Turkey to the United States and Britain are aimed at stifling economic growth, Turkish Trade Minister Bülent Tüfenkci said March 23.         

"We believe that the ban is not about security issues but commercial concerns, especially when we consider the recent development of Turkish Airlines," he said.
    
"This ban is also an obstacle to the development of countries' trade ties," he said at an event in the eastern province of Malatya.    

As such, Turkish authorities plan to take the issue to international civil aviation authorities.

The U.S. and Britain on March 21 banned large electronic devices from the passenger cabin on flights from some airports in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa.

Extremists plan to target planes with bombs in electronic devices, the U.S. warned on March 21, adding that it was duly banning passengers from carrying them in the cabin on flights from a number of airports, including Istanbul Atatürk Airport. 

Nine airlines have been given until March 25 to ban any device bigger than a cellphone or smartphone from the cabin.

The British ban only involves six countries, two of which - Lebanon and Tunisia - do not feature on the U.S. list. Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar and United Arab Emirates are on the U.S. list, but not the British one.

Turkey's transport minister, Ahmet Arslan, said on March 23 that Ankara would take the ban to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).        

"The number-one authority on the issue is the ICAO," Arslan told reporters.        

"We [Turkey] are also a council member of ICAO. We will keep fighting against it at the ICAO. If you are afraid of...