Ankara brushes off Iraq’s Kurdish oil claims
Turkey has insisted that the export of Kurdish Iraqi oil to the world is Iraqâs internal business, downplaying opposition from Baghdad, which has accused Turkey of worsening the row over who controls Iraqâs resources.
âThe income to be generated from here [exports] will be distributed with a system that our Iraqi brothers established by themselves,â Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said June 2, answering reportersâ questions after a meeting in Ankara.
âTherefore, I donât find it right to say things to Turkey that cannot be told to anybody else,â the minister said, when asked about his comments over the issue.
The shipping of oil extracted from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) last month has chilled ties both between Baghdad and Ankara, and between the central government and Kurdish authorities in Arbil.
The cargo of Kurdish oil left Turkey 10 days ago aboard a United Leadership tanker, prompting Baghdad to file for international arbitration against Ankara for facilitating the sale.
Iraq says its State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has exclusive rights to manage sales of crude from the entire country, including Kurdistan, and considers unilateral exports from the region as âsmuggling.â
However, in his remarks yesterday, Yıldız insisted Turkey âwill preserve its positive attitude over the process.â
âThink the exact opposite: Would it be better for Iraq if Turkey wasnât letting Iraqi oil to flow through it? It wouldnât. We are a neighbor, friend and fraternal country that is laying the basis for the transmission of Iraqi oil to world markets,â he said.
âThis oil is not Turkeyâs, it...
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