TURKEY: Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday approved a plan extending for another year the right of the US military to use a southern airbase for aircraft supplying its forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The decision brings to an end months of speculation in the local media about whether the agreement would be prolonged amid Turkey's deep unease about US policy in neighbouring Iraq.
It also comes after a deal with Washington worth about $1.1 billion to modernise 117 Turkish F-16 warplanes and underlines an improvement in bilateral relations ahead of a visit to the US by prime minister Tayyip Erdogan next month.
US diplomats had expressed frustration with Turkey for taking so long to reply to a request, lodged 10 months ago, for turning the Incirlik airbase into an expanded cargo hub.
Turkey is a Nato ally of the US, but relations were badly strained by the Iraq war.