| | | | Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan and US Treasury Secretary John Snow signed the loan agreement at a ceremony on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World bank meetings in Dubai.
Under the terms of the loan, Turkey will receive $8.5 billion over an 18 month period, released in four equal tranches. Repayments will not commence for four years and the full settlement term is 10 years. The funds are to be used to help repay Turkey’s internal and international debts.
Though one of the terms of the loan is that Turkey co-operate with the US regarding Iraq, both Babacan and Snow denied that this meant Ankara was committed to dispatching troops to Iraq as part of an international stability force.
“The contribution of Turkish troops for peacekeeping and stability operations in Iraq is not a necessary condition for determining Turkish co-operation in Iraq,” Snow said.
Babacan said the agreement would make important contribution to the economic reform program Turkey was putting in place, which he said was already yielding positive results. | |
