Turkey denies closing airspace to Iraq

Ankara: Turkey, which is pressing Iraq to crack down on PKK guerrillas based there, has not closed its airspace to flights to and from northern Iraq, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

Turkish broadcaster NTV television reported earlier that flights to and from northern Iraq had been closed as part of economic sanctions targeting groups supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) operating in northern Iraq.

Erdogan also told reporters sanctions against groups supporting the PKK had not yet been put into force.