PM Barzani, Turkish deputy FM discuss resuming oil exports
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Friday received Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz to discuss stalled oil exports and other regional developments.
'The meeting discussed the development of bilateral relations in various fields and the latest developments in the general situation in Iraq and the region,' read a statement from Barzani posted on Facebook.
'They also discussed the importance of resuming the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region through the port of Ceyhan,' the statement added.
Exports of Kurdish oil through Turkey's Ceyhan port were halted in March 2023 following a Paris-based arbitration court ruling that Ankara had violated a 1973 agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil independently of Baghdad.
Despite months of talks between Erbil, Baghdad, and the oil producers, the exports have yet to resume. Iraq's Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said Wednesday that a delegation from the KRG's natural resources ministry will visit Baghdad on Saturday for further discussions. Prior to the halt, the Kurdistan Region was exporting about 400,000 barrels of oil per day through the pipeline, in addition to 75,000 barrels per day from Kirkuk.
Barzani and Yilmaz also discussed the Development Road Project, Iraq's strategic plan to link the Persian Gulf to Turkey and Europe through highways and railways crossing the country. The KRG has raised concerns over the project, unhappy that the main corridor bypasses the Kurdistan Region and could undermine its control over cross-border trade and customs. In late March, the Region's transport ministry denied reaching any agreement with the federal government on the project.
The two also exchanged views on the peace process in Turkey and reiterated their support for its success.
On Wednesday, during the Sulaimani Forum, Barzani expressed hope that renewed talks between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) would lead to peace.
The initiative began in October 2024 after Devlet Bahceli, leader of Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, symbolically extended a hand to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, suggesting he be allowed to address parliament and dissolve the group.
In February, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) released a letter from Ocalan in which he called on the PKK to disarm and disband. The message raised hopes for an end to the four-decade conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
Ankara has demanded the PKK's immediate disarmament and surrender, while the group insists on Ocalan's release to oversee a congress that would finalize its dissolution.
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