Iraq announced on Sunday that Turkey's three passenger carriers THY, Atlasjet and Pegasus and freight carrier MNG Kargo were banned from landing in its airports, a decision that the country cited as retaliation against an earlier Turkish court ruling to seize Iraqi government property due to the State Oil Marketing Corporation's (SOMO) failure to repay $25 million in debts to Turkish businesses.
The Iraqi landing ban could cost the firms an approximate $3 million loss per week, observers argued on Monday. The Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Civil Aviation General Directorate (SHGM) are currently in contact with Iraqi authorities, seeking a solution for the current problem. Officials from the SHGM hinted Monday in İstanbul at hope for a solution in 24 hours. The four Turkish carriers have already cancelled 42 scheduled flights to Iraqi destinations, while 15 flights from Iraq to Turkey were called off.
The airline companies were not available for comment on the matter on Sunday. A reaction came from THY early on Monday; officials told Today’s Zaman in İstanbul that they expected to “resume flights any time” following a response from the Iraqi civil aviation authorities. Hinting at a possible resolution, THY’s flight information screens in İstanbul Atatürk Airport read “Delayed” instead of “Cancelled” for flights to Sulaimaniya, Baghdad and Arbil in Iraq on Monday. The other three are currently searching for alternative solutions to compensate for cancelled flights.
The current tension is nothing new and dates back to 2008 when SOMO failed to pay debts -- amounting to $25 billion with default interest added -- to Turkish oil companies, which was followed by cases against the Iraqi firm in Turkish courts. The courts, back then, ruled Turkey has the right to seize planes owned by the Iraqi government as soon as they land at a Turkish airport due to the unpaid SOMO debt. Iraq, however, avoided the seizures by using planes that did not belong to the Iraqi government but were leased from other countries in flights to Turkey during the past three years. Having long been ignored, the issue was brought back on the agenda when a recent local court verdict raised the possibility of seizure of planes owned by the Iraqi government as soon as they land in a Turkish airport due to the unpaid SOMO debt. Diplomatic sources told Today’s Zaman on Sunday Turkey might opt to collect SOMO’s debt via confiscation of Iraqi state property following the court’s decision.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday, Karim al-Nuri, the media adviser to Iraqi Transport Minister Hadi al-Ameri, said Turkish aircraft will be banned from landing at Iraqi airports from Sunday on. “This is a response to a Turkish decision to stop Iraqi airplanes from landing in Turkish airports,” Nuri was quoted as saying. Turkish airline companies were not immediately available for comment on the matter. As part of his remarks to the AFP, the Iraqi minister’s adviser defended his government’s stance against Turkish companies. “The Iraqi stance is right and normal, considering what the Turkish authorities decided to do days ago,” he said. He, however, acknowledged that the bilateral row stemmed from the debt SOMO owes to Turkey. “They did not find a way to put pressure on Iraq except by stopping our airplanes from landing in their airports,” he said.
Turkey is not the only neighbor the Iraqi oil companies are at odds with due to unpaid debts. Iraq also owes around $25 billion to Kuwait. Following pressure from Kuwait through UN diplomatic channels, the Iraqi government decided to use its licensed planes -- CRJ types -- only on domestic flights and flights to Iran. Baghdad has been suffering a financial loss from this decision as CRJ type carriers require relatively higher maintenance costs.
THY serves the highest number of destinations in Iraq of all the Turkish carriers with flights to Sulaimaniya, Baghdad, Arbil and Najaf. Pegasus flies to Arbil, Atlasjet has flights to Sulaimaniya and Arbil, while MNG carries cargo to Baghdad only. |
Source : todayszaman.com
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