ANKARA, June 24: Countries sending peacekeeping troops to Iraq can now use Turkey’s sea and air ports, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday.

“Any country ... which sends peace-keeping units to Iraq, if it wishes to use our (sea and air) ports, will be able to use them and transfer troops through our territory,” Gul told reporters, adding the decision was made at a cabinet meeting on Monday.

NATO member Turkey, Iraq’s northern neighbor, is home to several important airbases and sea ports.

Turkish transportation facilities will also be available for other humanitarian missions in the reconstruction of Iraq, Gul said.

Turkish officials say Ankara’s permission followed requests by some of the countries which were members of the US-led coalition against Iraq and which are set to send peacekeepers to the war-torn country.

The permission, which does not require parliamentary approval, applies to the transit of forces and to the transit and storage of equipment, they added.

There is no definite decision yet on the bases and ports to be used, but Ankara believes the southern air base of Incirlik and the Mediterranean port of Mersin would be suitable due to their proximity to Iraq.

Incirlik was used by US and British warplanes to enforce a no-fly zone over northern Iraq from the time of the Gulf War in 1991 till this year’s outbreak of war in Iraq.

The base is still used as a refuelling stop, notably for US planes heading to Afghanistan.—AFP