Turkish vehicle awaits permit at Iraq customs

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The Iraqi authorities are keeping an armored Turkish vehicle waiting in customs for a permit, as its documents have not been finished yet, a Turkish official has told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Despite Iraqi media reports of an air space violation against a Turkish plane and the alleged detention of the crew by Iraqi security forces, the official denied those allegations.

“Turkish Foreign Ministry has sent a note to receive permission for the vehicle, which will be used in our diplomatic missions in Iraq. The process for the permission has not yet finished and the vessel is being held in customs until the end of process,” the official said. The official added that there had been no violation of Iraqi air space.

Iraqi media had claimed that a Turkish plane entered Iraqi air space without any notification. The reports emerged amid ongoing political tension between Ankara and Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on April 20 branded Turkey a “hostile state” with a sectarian agenda, the latest in a series of bitter exchanges between the neighbors.