Turkish Airlines halts Simferopol flights

ISTANBUL

Turksish Airlines has announced it will not fly to Crimea until June 17.

Turkish Airlines (THY), Turkey’s national air carrier, announced that it had cancelled all flights between Istanbul and the city of Simferopol on the Crimean Peninsula until June 17, amid escalating tension.

THY flights had been already been disrupted by the political tension in the region for the past 15 days.

Pro-Moscow forces took control of the Crimean Peninsula in late February, and following a controversial referendum Crimea decided to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has since signed into law the annexation of Ukraine’s strategic peninsula amid criticism and sanctions from the European Union and the U.S.