Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani speaking at the MERI Forum in Erbil on October 10, 2023. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The issue with resuming Kurdish crude oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline depends on Baghdad and not Turkey, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said on Tuesday, a week after Ankara declared the pipeline ready for operation.
“The problem is not with Turkey, the problem is with Baghdad,” Barzani said during a forum in Erbil, with Iraqi and Turkish officials constantly pointing fingers at each other over the failure to resume exports, nearly seven months after a court ruling caused a halt in exports.
Oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 23 when a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
The lack of oil flow has incurred around $6 billion of losses towards the Kurdish and Iraqi governments since March.
Last week, Turkey’s energy and natural resources minister announced that the Iraq-Turkey pipeline is ready for operations. Iraqi officials have repeatedly blamed Turkey for refusing to allow the flow of oil over the months, while Ankara officials have stated that the pipeline was closed due to much-needed repairs after the devastating February earthquake.
“Turkey has repeatedly expressed its readiness for oil to flow again,” President Barzani said. But issues with international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Kurdistan Region are disrupting the flow, he added, as well as discrepancies between the prices set for Kurdish and Iraqi oil.
International oil companies (IOCs) and the KRG are bound by Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) which are governed by British law, hence any disputes would have to be taken to the London Court of International Arbitration.
Under the Kurdistan Region’s PSC model, the IOCs cover the entire cost of production while the KRG receives the lion’s share of the profits from successful projects.
About 400,000 barrels of oil were being exported daily by Erbil through the pipeline which runs to the Turkish port of Ceyhan before the halt, in addition to some 75,000 barrels from Kirkuk oil fields controlled by the Iraqi government.
According to the highly-contentious Iraqi federal budget passed in June, the KRG is obliged to sell 400,000 barrels of crude oil through Iraq’s national oil marketing body otherwise Baghdad would use Kurdish oil domestically.
KDP-PUK issues - a new understanding needed
While discussing issues surrounding the Kurdistan Region’s leading rival parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - President Barzani stressed the need for a new agreement between the parties to resolve lonstanding disputes.
“We need a new agreement and understanding with the PUK in order to progress our nation forward,” he said.
The Kurdistan Region has been mired with internal disputes that have worsened in recent months, largely attributed to contentions and ongoing wrangling between the KDP and PUK.
“We have to figure out how to work together,” Barzani stressed. “We were able to achieve a lot of successes together, and in case of deterioration all Kurds and all of Iraq will suffer.”
Baghdad-Erbil problem remains a main Iraqi issue
President Barzani said that the main issue Iraq faces is the dispute between Baghdad and Erbil, and that this needs to be resolved before any other.
“Until this situation with Baghdad is not resolved, the one of whether we are a federal or central system,” nothing will progress, the Kurdistan Region’s president said.
“Maybe we are doing some things in the Kurdistan Region that are not right, but what Baghdad is doing towards the Kurdistan Region is everything but federal,” Barzani emphasized.
Barzani stressed that the implementation of a true federal system in Iraq would benefit the entire country.
“We want stability in Iraq. We want the situation of the people to become better, we want a better economy,” he said.
The Iraqi parliament in June passed its highly-contentious budget bill for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, of which the Kurdistan Region’s share is 12.6 percent. However, budget issues between both governments have not been resolved as Erbil continues to blame Baghdad for not sending the required funds to pay the Region’s civil servants.
Meetings between delegations of the KRG and the federal government have been ongoing over the past months, aimed at resolving lingering disputes over the Region’s share in the federal budget.
Use of Kurdistan Region as launchpad of attacks on neighboring countries
President Barzani stressed the fact that the territory of the Kurdistan Region should be not be used as a launchpad for attacks on neighboring countries, particularly Turkey and Iran.
“This problem must be resolved through dialogue. This is not a problem that we can resolve militarily. It is a type of issue that has to be resolved politically,” Barzani said about Turkey’s fight with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK is an armed group that has fought for the rights of Kurds in Turkey. It is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, which has launched numerous operations against the group and its alleged offshoots in the Kurdistan Region and Syria.
Ankara has in the past few years intensified its campaign to eliminate the presence of PKK fighters around its borders, launching several operations in the Kurdistan Region as well as Syria where it claims to target alleged proxies of the group.
“The PKK has caused a big headache and many problems for Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” the president said, adding that the armed group does not respect the Region’s institutions.
“Iranian opposition respect the institutions of the Kurdistan Region much better than the PKK,” President Barzani said.
Baghdad said it had complied with the terms of the joint security pact with Iran in March and disarmed the Kurdish exiled groups on the Iraq-Iran border, adding that the offices previously used by Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups have been “definitively” evacuated.
“It is not right for Iraq to become a zone to launch attacks on neighboring countries,” said Barzani when asked about the Iraq-Iran security agreement to disarm Kurdish opposition groups from the bordering areas.
“Baghdad has signed a security agreement with Tehran. We in the Kurdistan Region are compliant wiith implementing this agreement,” Barzani confirmed.
“The Kurdistan Region is not a source for launching attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he stated.
Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region - namely the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Komala, Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) - have been accused of fueling the nationwide protest movement in Iran last year and inciting unrest in the country. The groups, struggling for greater rights for Iran’s marginalized Kurdish population, have fought an on-and-off war with the Islamic Republic.
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