Brussels — Turkey is restricting flights to Belarus after coming under increasing pressure from the European Union, which is trying to stem the influx of illegal migrants to the bloc's border.

Turkish aviation authorities said in brief statement on Friday they will no longer allow citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen from flying to Belarus using Turkish airports.

In Brussels, a European Commission spokesperson said that Belarus national air carrier Belavia would be prevented from using the Middle East-spanning network of partner Turkish Airlines to put citizens on flights from Istanbul to Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

The European Commission has previously threatened punitive measures against airlines transporting migrants to Belarus with the intention of entering the EU illegally.

It is the latest step taken by the EU in response to the worsening EU-Belarus border crisis and comes after a decision on Tuesday to restrict access to the bloc for Belarus government officials accused of abetting migrants trying to reach the EU's external borders.

On Monday the EU is expected to adopt its fifth package of sanctions on Belarus since the contested August 2020 election that put strongman Alexander Lukashenko back in power.

The EU accuses Lukashenko of deliberately encouraging the flow of migrants by air to Minsk and then sending them on under guard to his country's borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, where thousands are now stranded in dire conditions.

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