Iraq, Turkey butt heads, block flights over debt dispute
From Mohammed Tawfeeq and Ivan Watson, CNN
November 20, 2011 -- Updated 2050 GMT (0450 HKT)
(CNN) -- Iraq has banned all Turkish flights from landing in the country in response to a dispute over millions of dollars owed by an Iraqi government oil company to Turkey.
Iraqi transportation ministry spokesman Karim al-Nuri said the decision to block Turkish planes from Iraq, including the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, was in response to a similar ban in Turkey against Iraqi flights. However, a Turkish government official denied that Ankara blocked Iraqi planes.
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