Turkey says airline device ban aimed at hindering trade

MALATYA, Turkey

New restrictions on in-cabin electronic devices on flights from Turkey to the U.S. and U.K. are aimed at stifling economic growth, Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci said Thursday.

“We believe that the ban is not about security issues but commercial concerns, especially when we consider the recent development of Turkish Airlines,” he told Anadolu Agency in the eastern province of Malatya.

Last year Turkey’s flag carrier was voted Europe's best airline for the sixth consecutive year by passenger pollster Skytrax.

“This ban is also an obstacle to the development of countries' commerce,” Tufenkci added.

Since 2015, Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport has been Europe's third largest airport, with 62 million passengers passing through annually.

On Tuesday, the U.S. issued stringent regulations for airline passengers carrying electronic devices on flights from airports in eight Muslim-majority countries, including Ataturk airport.

Under the restrictions, only small electronics such as mobile phones are allowed in the cabin, while larger devices such as laptops or tablets must go in checked luggage.

Turkey negotiating with US, UK

The U.S. cited fresh “evaluated intelligence” that suggested terror groups continued to target commercial flights by “smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items”.

The U.K. later issued a similar ban on all flights from airports in Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tunisia.

According to Tufenkci, Turkish police and customs officers have already taken precautions to ensure flight security.

“The most recent technological devices are used [at airports],” he said. “We have not detected anything in computers and tablets so far that would cause such a problem.”

On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu said Turkey had been negotiating with the U.S. and Britain to exclude Ataturk airport and Turkish Airlines from the ban list.

Turkish Airlines operate non-stop flights to the U.S. and the U.K. from Ataturk, which deals with more than 80 million flights a year.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department said a “small percentage of flights” to the U.S. would be affected and the regulations would remain in place “until the threat changes”.

Reporting by Emrah Gokmen;Writing by Burcu Arik