Turkish Airlines 'not suspending' northern Iraq flights

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s flag carrier has no plans to suspend flights to northern Iraq, the airline said Wednesday.

Turkish Airlines said scheduled flights to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah would continue despite the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority saying international flights would be suspended.

“All our scheduled flights to these two cities will be carried out as planned,” the airline said in a statement.

In a message on it’s website, budget airline Pegasus said it was in talks with Turkey’s General Directorate of Civil Aviation over flights to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

On Tuesday night, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi gave the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) three days to hand over control of the airports under its control to avoid an air embargo.

The warning follows Monday’s illegitimate independence referendum in KRG-controlled areas of northern Iraq.

Iran is the only country to have declared an air embargo against the KRG.