ANKARA - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who spoke with Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul by phone on Wednesday evening, wanted Turkish air space to be opened also for the British aircrafts.
Diplomatic sources said Straw asked Gul whether or not they could use Turkish air space. Straw also expressed belief that Turkey would undertake an important role in future of Iraq.
Foreign Minister Gul in response said that the motion should firstly be issued for it, stating that name of no particular country was stated in the motion, so that this was possible in technical means. However, Gul also stated that all those should be evaluated after passage of the motion.
Prime Ministry motion on sending Turkish troops to northern Iraq and opening Turkish airspace to aircrafts of foreign armed forces for six months was presented to the Parliament Speaker's Office late on Wednesday. The government motion will be debated in the parliament on Thursday.
FM Gul is expected to depart from Ankara on Thursday evening to participate in the European Union (EU) summit in Brussels.
Meanwhile, it was reported that foreign ministers of Germany, France, Britain, Greece and Belgium requested to hold bilateral meetings with Gul.
(AY-AÖ) 20.03.2003