Oil meeting between Erdogan and Barzani
President Tayyip Erdoğan met with Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, who visited Ankara to discuss the resumption of oil shipments from the Kirkuk-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline and other issues.
A senior Kurdish official close to the prime minister of the Kurdish Regional Government said: “Different issues can be discussed, including security in the region. But oil exports will be a priority,” he said.
According to the images released by the Presidency, the meeting was also attended by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Following the international court of arbitration decision in March that sentenced Turkey to pay compensation to Iraq, Turkey cut off the flow of oil from the line at the request of the Iraqi central government.
Another Kurdish official said Barzani’s visit was aimed at finding ways to speed up the resumption of oil exports, a vital source of cash for the Kurdish Regional Government.
TURKISH DELEGATION VISITED BAGDAT
Barzani’s visit followed a visit by a Turkish delegation to Baghdad yesterday for the commissioning of the line. An Iraqi official said that after the meeting with Iraqi oil officials, the meeting discussed the resumption of oil shipments, that the decision would not be made immediately, and that negotiations would continue.
The arbitration court ruled that Turkey must pay approximately $1.5 billion in compensation to Iraq for tolerating the Kurdish regional government’s oil exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline. The penalty covers shipments made up to 2018.
The sources claimed that Ankara, not wanting to pay compensation sooner, wanted to meet Baghdad one-on-one about the $1.5 billion compensation, and also stated that they wanted the arbitration over the shipments to be resolved after 2018.
In the statement made by the KRG prime minister, it was stated that Barzani will also meet with the Turkish foreign minister and senior government officials to “explore ways to strengthen relations between the Kurdish Regional Government and Turkey.” (Reuters)