Turkey invites technical teams from Poland to inspect air travel proceedings

Turkey has invited a technical team from Poland to inspect proceedings at Istanbul airport, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, amid allegations that Turkish Airlines was helping fuel a migrant crisis at the Poland-Belarus border. 

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticised Turkey on Tuesday by claiming that Ankara was maintaining an open corridor between Istanbul and Minsk, and helping Belarus bring thousands of refugees to its border with Poland. 

In response, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau and expressed sadness over the "baseless" allegations against Turkey and Turkish Airlines, the statement said.

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"Minister Cavusoglu reminded his counterpart that the public opinion should be informed correctly and he extended an offer to bring technical teams from Poland to correctly inform the public," the statement added. 

Turkish Airlines said on Tuesday that the allegations that it was establishing "a ground for illegal immigration traffic" were baseless. 

"Our company makes sure to comply with all security precautions and sensibilities in cooperation with international authorities in all its flights operated to all corners of the world," the carrier said in a statement. 

Turkish Airlines also cut its weekly flights from Istanbul to Minsk from 14 to 10 beginning on 31 October, flight data indicates. 

More than 2,000 people, including children and women, mainly from Middle Eastern countries, have been stuck at the Belarus border for weeks, in freezing temperatures.

Footage indicates crowds of people have been trying to tear down a barbed-wire fence on the Belarussian side of the border, with Polish guards trying to disperse them with tear gas.