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ANKARA, March 30 (AFP) -Turkey was expected to
allow the United States to use a key military base
in the south of the country as a logistical cargo
hub for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a
Turkish official said Wednesday.
Turkish officials have completed technical work on a
plan allowing US planes to use the Incirlik base in
Adana province, the official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
"The final political decision is now up to the
government," he said.
Ankara and Washington have been negotiating about
the base for the past several months amid tensions
stemming from differences over Iraq.
Under the proposed deal, US civilian and military
aircraft would be allowed to transport "non-lethal
logistical material" via Incirlik to Iraq and
Afghanistan without seeking permission for each
flight, the official said.
The aircraft would still be required to notify
Turkish authorities of their flight plans, he said.
The deal will not require the approval of the
Turkish parliament, as it will fall under the scope
of an earlier government decision allowing countries
involved in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to
use Turkish transport facilities for logistical and
humanitarian purposes, the official said.
The Turkish parliament stunned Washington just
before the occupation of Iraq in March 2003 when it
denied US troops access to Turkish territory for a
planned invasion of Iraq from the north.
The once close ties between the two NATO allies were
further strained by US reluctance to take military
action against Turkish Kurd rebels in northern Iraq
and Ankara's concern that Iraqi Kurds are getting
too much power in post-war Iraq.
US and British warplanes used the Incirlik base to
patrol the no-fly zone over northern Iraq between
the end of the first Gulf War in 1991 and the
invasion of Iraq in 2003.
AFP
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