Turkey has opened its airspace to US military aircraft as war rages in neighbouring Iraq, Turkey's defence minister said this evening.
The decision by Washington's close NATO ally will enable US warplanes to cross Turkish territory for operations in northern Iraq, easing pressure on a main US-led invasion force pressing up from the south.
"In the end it was determined that opening airspace was in Turkey's interests," Defence Minister Mr Vecdi Gonul told reporters.
Local television channels reported the deal earlier today but a foreign ministry official had said talks with Washington were continuing.
Mr Gonul said talks were still underway on a Turkish request to send its armed forces into northern Iraq, a deployment it says is necessary to root out Kurdish guerrillas and prevent an influx of refugees.
Parliament held a long-awaited vote last night, the day war broke out, granting permission for U.S. warplanes to cross Turkish territory. But missions Washington hoped could go ahead immediately, became bogged down in all-night talks over terms.
Washington opposes any unilateral dispatch of Turkish troops to northern Iraq, fearing clashes with local Kurds who control the area would disrupt the U.S. campaign.
But Turkey fears Iraqi Kurds may exploit the war to create an independent state, reviving Kurdish separatism on its own soil.
Turkey has fought a decades-long war with Kurdistan Workers Party guerrillas, many of whom have now fled Turkey to northern Iraq.