Turkey tells Poland it played no role in Belarus migrant crisis

Turkey has been falsely portrayed to have played a part in the migrant crisis on the Poland-Belarus border, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told his Polish counterpart on Wednesday.

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

According to Turkish diplomatic sources, Çavuşoğlu told Zbigniew Rau that attempts are being made to make it seem as if Turkey is part of the problem, when in reality it is not involved in the matter.

He expressed his regret over the "baseless allegations against Turkey and Turkish Airlines (THY)," and added that Ankara rejects the claims.

On Tuesday, the Turkish flag carrier rebuffed allegations that THY was flying migrants to Belarus amid the crisis on the border.

Denying the "baseless" claims, the airliner said the THY flights to Belarus are in no way aiding illegal immigration traffic.

The Turkish foreign minister also reminded his counterpart that the public needs to be properly informed when it comes to such allegations, and invited technical teams from Poland to come to Turkey.

Poland and the European Union have accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of trying to retaliate against EU sanctions by deliberately inviting and forcing migrants toward the Polish border.

EU countries bordering Belarus – Lithuania, Latvia and Poland – have reported a dramatic spike in the number of irregular crossings since August.

NATO and the EU consider Belarus' approach toward migrants an effort to destabilize and undermine security in the bloc through non-military means.

According to the latest EU figures, 7,935 people tried to enter the bloc via the Belarus-EU border so far this year, up sharply from just 150 last year.

On Monday, Polish authorities stepped up border protection and mobilized more than 12,000 troops after a large group of migrants started marching toward the country's frontier with Belarus accompanied by the Belarusian military.