ANKARA - Turkey has allowed Britain and South Korea to use a military air base in the south of the country for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Turkish foreign ministry said Thursday.
The permission falls under the scope of an April 18 government decree which was aimed mainly at meeting a US request to use the Incirlik base in the province of Adana as a logistical cargo hub to transport supplies to neighboring Iraq as well as Afghanistan.
Britain has asked to use facilities at the base for refuelling and maintainance of airplanes, while South Korea has sought permission to evacuate soldiers from its contingent in Iraq via Incirlik in case of emergency, the statement said.
The foreign ministry released also details of the permission granted to the United States.
It said US planes would not be allowed to transport arms, ammunition and troops, but only logistical supplies such as tents, food and spare parts.
The US would ask for clearance to use the base one month ahead of the flights, it said.
The US is planning to fly logistical material to Incirlik on civilian cargo planes and redistribute the goods to Iraq and Afghanistan on military aircraft.
US and British warplanes also used the base to patrol a no-fly zone over northern Iraq between the end of the 1991 Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
05/12/2005 15:26 GMT