Iraq warns Turkey over oil deal with Kurds

Baghdad has warned Turkey that a separate oil deal with Iraq’s northern self-ruled Kurdish region could damage trade relations, the latest sign of tension between the neighbours.

Earlier this month, Iraq’s Kurds announced that they have started exporting crude oil and gas to Turkey. The goal is to barter it for refined petroleum products to meet domestic demand. The deal is part of a bigger agreement the Kurdish government negotiated and signed with Turkey in May without going through Baghdad.

“Exporting oil from the Kurdistan region to Turkey is illegal and illegitimate,” government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh said yesterday. “The oil and gas are the property of all Iraqis and those exports and revenues must be managed by the federal government which represents all Iraqis,” he added.