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Russians traveling to Mexico are massively stopped in Istanbul, from where they transfer, by security officials.

The reason is the insistence of the Mexican border authorities because of the frequent attempts of Russians to illegally cross the border with the USA.

St. Petersburg resident Gleb spent almost half a million rubles on his dream trip. But the road to Madonna’s concert in Mexico ended at the airport in Istanbul: security officers hired by Turkish Airlines refused to let him board the flight to Cancun at the gate. Dozens of other Russians planning a trip to South and Latin America received similar refusals, Fontanka.ru reported.

Our citizens are not welcome abroad, writes the Russian edition.

On April 21, a VKontakte community dedicated to the singer Madonna shared the story of a lost dream.

A fan of the pop diva, the resident of St. Petersburg Gleb planned to attend one of the concerts of the Mexican tour and bought a ticket for a Turkish Airlines flight to Cancun with a transfer at the airport in Istanbul.

The first flight on April 19 went as planned, but he was denied boarding on the second flight. The traveler was first sent to a separate counter with the words:

„Oh, another Russian.“

Then an employee with a Gozen Security badge told the St. Petersburg resident he wasn’t flying anywhere and scratched out his boarding pass.

As Gleb told Fontanka, the events took place in the transit area of the Istanbul airport, where people on their way to a transfer ended up right at the gate from which the plane was supposed to fly to Mexico.

According to him, several other Russians were brought down with him, referring in particular to a brief history of the trip.

As a result, the Madonna fan had to buy a return ticket to St. Petersburg with his own money.

In total, he lost about 430 thousand rubles due to the burned plane tickets, paid hotel reservations and concert tickets.

„For this amount, I received passport discrimination, a spoiled mood, and the worst thing is that I will never fulfill my old dream of seeing Madonna and attending her concert,“ he summarizes.

After arriving home, Gleb wrote a complaint to Turkish Airlines, but has not yet received a response, he told Fontanka.

Victor, who planned to fly on the same plane to Cancun as Gleb, told Fontanka that he and his daughter had also been removed from the flight.

There is no clear explanation of the reasons for the removal from the flight.

Except for ‘Russian no,’ as they told me in the eyes,“ he notes.

According to him, in front of the portal, employees lined up passengers in two queues.

– Everyone from Europe, the USA or with an American visa – in one (they quickly let them through). Russians, Asians and others – in another (Russians were converted), he noted.

Victor had in his hands a fully prepaid hotel reservation for nine days, airport transfers, round trip plane tickets in one reservation.

“I showed them printouts from the websites of Turkish Airlines and the [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] of Mexico, which set out the final list of requirements for Russian citizens to enter Mexico. We have met all the requirements. They read them and returned them,“ he said.

At the same time, security officials said that all complaints should be addressed to the airline itself.

Turkish Airlines, in turn, said they were not the ones to cancel the flight, so they would not refund tickets, including a round-trip Istanbul-Moscow ticket, the passenger said.

The example of Turkish Airlines refusing to allow Russians to board flights to South and Latin America is not an isolated example, as is clear from discussions on travel forums and thematic chats on Telegram. The situation first became known in March 2024.

Those traveling to Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are removed. As a rule, problems arise for those who do not have a round-trip ticket and carry a minimum amount of luggage.

There are already over 1,300 participants in the chat of those affected by this Turkish airline policy, and there is discussion of filing a class action complaint against the carrier’s actions.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), the airline has de facto delegated the right to admit passengers on its flights to the private outsourcing structure Gozen Security.

In response to a query from tour operators, Turkish Airlines explained that „due to an insufficient set of documents“ it „proactively checks all documents of tourists before departure to a certain country“.

And she may not allow the passenger to board because the airline, she said, „suffers financial costs, including fines“ if he is „found to have improper documents“ at the border and is deported.

At the same time, the carrier did not specify what exactly the tourists who were taken off the flight were missing. In addition, passengers of other airlines do not face a similar situation, notes ATOR, advising tourists to plan alternative routes.

Russian diplomats are already baffled by the problem. They have already contacted the management of Turkish Airlines and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the situation with the transit of Russians through Istanbul to Latin American countries, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Istanbul Andrei Buravov told RIA Novosti on April 21.

„We expect an adequate response to our appeals,“ he added.

However, such difficulties arise not only for Russians. Earlier, Turkish media reported about its citizens who were unable to fly on Turkish Airlines planes to Cancun. Although all their documents were in order, they were denied boarding at Istanbul airport check-in.

Ground staff explained that they were following orders from Mexican border police to deny certain passengers boarding.

In particular, refusals follow if this is the tourist’s first trip abroad.

It was noted that the airline is doing this in an effort to avoid the return deportation of those who try to illegally travel to the United States through Mexico.

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