ANKARA - Namik Tan, the spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said on Friday that whether or not to allow the entrance of a foreigner in a country was an issue regarding the sovereignty rights of that country.
Tan told the weekly press briefing that the Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Interior Ministry, asking not to allow citizens of third countries of Iraqi origin to pass from Turkey to Iraq, if it is written ''Kurdistan'' in their passports.
''Turkish officials had noticed in recent years that in the passports of some people of Iraqi origin, that 'Kurdistan' was mentioned as the place of birth'', Tan said.
Tan noted that the Foreign Ministry sent two notes to the Interior Ministry in 1996 and 1997, asking officials not to allow such people to travel from Turkey to Iraq. Tan said, ''the Foreign Ministry asked that those people should not be allowed to enter to or depart from Turkey and should be notified that the city they were born should be written in the 'place of birth' part of their passports''.
Tan pointed out that whether or not to allow a foreigner to enter a country is within the sovereignty rights of that country. ''Therefore'', he noted, ''a foreigner might not be allowed to enter a country even though he was granted a visa''.
''Contrary to the press reports, our Ministry has not taken any diplomatic initiatives on this matter,'' Tan added.
The British Guardian newspaper reported that an Iraqi couple carrying British passport was not allowed to enter Turkey at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport since ''Kurdistan'' was written as their place of birth on their documents.
(BRC-ULG) 22.10.2004