ANKARA - Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesman Namik Tan denied press reports claiming that Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is not eager to visit Turkey.
Speaking at the weekly news conference on Wednesday, Tan said, ''there were some press reports claiming that Allawi did not want to come to Turkey. These are totally baseless. We invited him to come to Turkey, and he responded in the affirmative. He is expected to pay a visit to Turkey during the coming months.''
Upon a question, Tan said, ''Turkey has launched an initiative to open a consulate in Mosul in Iraq. However, some circles claimed that Baghdad had rejected our initiative. These claims are also baseless. There has already been a Turkish consulate in Mosul. We are discussing with Iraqi interim government to reactivate our consulate. This is a process''.
(UK-ULG) 28.07.2004