Turkey urging U.S., Britain to lift flight electronics ban: foreign ministry

A passenger places her computer in her suitcase before the British Airways check-in desk at Ataturk International airport in Istanbul, Turkey, March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is in talks with the United States and Britain to exclude Turkish Airlines and Istanbul's main Ataturk airport from a ban on passengers carrying electronics larger than cell phones, Turkey's foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday passengers traveling from specific airports, including Istanbul, could not bring into the main cabin devices larger than a mobile phone such as tablets, laptops and cameras. The foreign ministry spokesman, Huseyin Muftuoglu, made the comments at a news conference in Ankara. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Nick Tattersall)