Belarus–European Union border crisis

Ankara on Nov. 12 banned citizens of Syria, Iraq and Yemen from flying from Turkish airports to Belarus because of the refugee crisis at the former Soviet country's border with Poland.

Russia sent two nuclear-capable strategic bombers on a training mission over Belarus for a second straight day on Nov. 11 in a strong show of Moscow's support for its ally amid a dispute over migration at the Polish border.

Turkey on Nov. 11 reiterated its support for Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania amid a refugee flux on their borders with Belarus.

Migrants approaching a fence at the Belarus-Polish border in the Grodno region of Belarus, November 10, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/LEONID SCHEGLOV/BELTA

Turkey's Anadolu Agency reported that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau on Wednesday that Turkey was being made part of a problem despite not being party to it.

European Union officials on Nov. 10 accused Belarus of state-sponsored "trafficking" of human lives by luring desperate migrants to the Polish border, the edge of the EU, where many are now stuck in makeshift camps in freezing weather.

In a phone call on Nov. 10, Turkish and Polish foreign ministers discussed the migrant crisis at the Poland-Belarus border.

According to Turkish diplomatic sources, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told Zbigniew Rau that Turkey is tried to be shown as a part of the problem despite not being a party to it.

Turkey’s national flag-carrier, Turkish Airlines, was still flying migrants from Constantinople to Minsk twice a day despite the border crisis

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating a wave of migrants trying to illegally enter Poland from Belarus, saying the "attack" threatens to destabilize the European Union.

Turkish Airlines flights to Belarus are in no way aiding in illegal immigration traffic, the flag carrier said on Nov. 9.

Poland said it blocked a bid by hundreds of migrants to illegally enter the country from Belarus on Nov. 8, warning of an "armed" escalation as thousands more massed near the border.

As the latest grim chapter of Europe's migrant crisis unfolded, Washington and Brussels called on Minsk to stop what they described as an orchestrated influx.