Turkey denies airspace to Iraq-bound airline

Source: Turkish Daily News

Turkey has turned down a request by a private German company to use Turkish airspace for flights bound for northern Iraq because it objects to the name of the carrier: Kurdistan Airlines.

Diplomatic sources told the Turkish Daily News on Thursday that the Turkish side did not want to grant use of its airspace to an airline that uses the name "Kurdistan," a politically charged reference to land inhabited by millions of Kurds in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq. The German government, acting as a mediator between the private German company Hamburg International and Turkey, passed on the request to Turkish authorities who refused the use of Turkey's air corridor for the airlines' flights to northern Iraq.

. . .

The same official added, "For the time being, we have chosen to use the airspace of neighboring countries for this operation." Greek Cyprus is known to be one of the countries through which Hamburg International is routing flights to Iraq.

. . .

Turkey has not always opposed private flights to northern Iraq. Previously a private Turkish airline company, Fly Air, wanted to launch flights to the northern Iraqi cities of Arbil and Sulaymaniyah. Turkish officials said at the time there was no obstacle for direct flights to Baghdad or any other Iraqi cities. In this instance, the name Kurdistan Airlines seems to have been the main source of concern for Ankara.

Read more: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=85295

suleiman anyone?

speaking Kurdish, or calling anyone by a Kurdish name. Pretty damn brutal....

Of course, if they use the GREEEEEEEEEK airspace, that'll piss 'em off even more!

Back in my days at TWA I sometimes flew the run from Athens to Tel Aviv. We passed through a corner of Turkish airspace.

Normally when you are approaching the edge of an air traffic controller's area he'll give you a radio frequency change to contact the next controller. Not so between Greek and Turkish air space.

They just quit talking to us.
Of course we were briefed on this during flight planning.
We knew where the border was and had the next frequency to go to when we crossed. But it was funny.

Once, just to kinda bug 'em, I changed from the Greek frequency to the Turkish one a few miles early. The Turkish controller would not reply to our radio calls until we were actually in his airspace.

Now THAT'S carrying a grudge.
;-)

Say the word "Kurd" around her and her friends and they all go berserk.

I would say that she and her friends are a tough, stubborn and sometimes nasty bunch. If they are representative of Turks in general, there will be no negotiations on this.

Only one of them seems to see anything worthwhile in the U.S., even though they are all permanent residents. I don't think that the U.S. will have a lot of sway in this situation.

"...are a tough, stubborn and sometimes nasty bunch. If they are representative of Turks in general,..." Sound like they are representative of a lot of Americans :o

Tough and stubborn have their place when not taken to extremes; e.g., our pretzeldent has taken stubbornness to a new art.

In my book, nasty doesn't have a place in human interaction.

I know that those characteristics seem to be growing here. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 52, and it seems that unpleasant behavior is spreading.

I try to act pleasantly, politely and helpfully every day to every one in an effort to set an example that perhaps others will follow. Strange as it is to say, I think that other ladies in my age group are doing the same. Maybe they never let the current mannerless situation get to them, but they are out there showing common courtesy in the midst of rude, crass behavior.

How about you?

perspective outside our borders - I thin we are getting more and more of the reputation described - in large part due to boosh and his foreign "policies".

They would be Kurdistan outside Turkey but once in Turkish air space they would be Durkistan.

Perhaps they could switch to "Mountain Turds."