§ Mr. Hilary BennTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the no-fly zone in Northern Iraq applies to military aircraft of the Turkish air force. [155065]
§ Mr. HoonI have been asked to reply.
The northern no-fly zone was established on humanitarian grounds in an effort to prevent Saddam Hussein from repressing the Kurdish civilian population from the air. The zone was not established to monitor the activity of our NATO allies. We therefore routinely collect information only on the activity of Iraqi aircraft.