Turkey to grant transit visas to stranded Iraqis, envoy tells Hussein

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met Sunday with Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq, Anil Bora Inan, at the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad. During the meeting, Inan said Turkey has granted transit visas to Iraqi citizens stranded at air and land border crossings amid ongoing U.S.-Israel and Iran war.

According to a Foreign Ministry statement, the two sides discussed “bilateral relations between Iraq and Turkey and ways to enhance them in various fields,” as well as developments related to “the ongoing war in the region and its potential repercussions on countries in the region.”

Hussein  stressed “Iraq’s commitment to keeping the repercussions of the current regional crisis away from the Iraqi arena and working through diplomatic channels to limit its political and economic effects.”

Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority on Saturday extended the country’s airspace closure for another 72 hours, keeping it shut to all incoming, outgoing and transit flights until noon Tuesday.

Iraq has kept its airspace closed since last Saturday following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent Iranian missile and drone launches across the region. The closure was previously extended for 24 hours, then 48 hours, before Saturday’s 72-hour extension.