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Exclusive: Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan ink landmark energy contracts

Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan signed a multi-billion-dollar energy package this week that will help transform the semi-autonomous region into an oil and gas powerhouse but infuriate the central government in Baghdad. The move follows months of negotiations and was learned from sources close to the deal on Friday after being kept secret. Baghdad says any independent Kurdish oil exports are illegal and that it has the sole authority to manage Iraqi oil. For energy-hungry Turkey, dependent on imports for almost all of its needs, exploiting Iraqi Kurdistan’s rich hydrocarbon resources will help diversify its energy supplies and reduce the country’s ballooning $60 billion energy bill. Ankara’s close partnership with Iraqi Kurds is historic and to many, marks the beginning of a new era, given the decades-long fight with Kurdish militants on Turkish soil that has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The deal came in the early […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Besieged town in disputed territories turns to Kurds for security

Besieged town in disputed territories turns to Kurds for security Exhausted by relentless bombings and exasperated by the federal government’s inability to provide security, Tuz Khurmatu, one of the most fractious towns in Iraq’s disputed territories, has voted to come under the protection of Kurdish Peshmerga security forces.Key Kurdish leaders indicated their intention to honor the request, despite the risk of raising tensions with authorities in Baghdad and Salahaddin province, who oppose the move.”We will send Peshmerga forces to Tuz if the local c…

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Kurdistan sets stage for independent exports

Kurdistan sets stage for independent exports As Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region nears completion of its direct oil export pipeline to Turkey, the government has finished laying a legal foundation that could, in effect, give it economic independence from Baghdad.The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs said Monday that Iraq’s federal government owes $384.7 billion in reparations for acts committed against the country’s Kurdish population.”This is one of the rights of the Kurds,” said Sabah A… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple