(CNN) -- Iraq has banned all Turkish flights from landing in the country in response to a dispute over millions of dollars owed by an Iraqi government oil company to Turkey. Iraqi transportation ministry spokesman Karim al-Nuri said the decision to block Turkish planes from Iraq, including the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, was in response to a similar ban in Turkey against Iraqi flights. However, a Turkish government official denied that Ankara blocked Iraqi planes. The official did say that Turkey warned that if Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) does not pay the $3 million owed to his country, then the country would ban Iraqi aircraft.
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Iraq claims Turkey has banned Iraqi flights from landing
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Turkey denies making such a decision
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The dispute is over money owed by an Iraqi oil company to Turkey
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But the way out is for SOMO to pay its debts," the @placeholder official said.