MESOP : Ankara-Erbil oil deal to last 50 years: Nechirvan Barzani

5.6.2014 – Kurdpress – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani revealed that the energy agreement between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey is due to last for 50 years and it can be resigned.“We were in talks with Turkey for two years to sign the agreement. The result is a long-term deal for about 50 years, which can be renewed,” he went on to say. He stressed that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was forced to sell their oil to provide income for Kurdish people, “cut by Iraqi government.”

Regarding the recent criticism from Washington of the Kurdish oil export and their call on the Kurds to stop it, Barzani said the US should have also addressed the problem of Baghdad’s cuts to Kurdish salaries. “The US did what they could to support the Kurdistan Region and Iraq … they wanted to balance the situation. But when they talked about oil, they should have mentioned the cutting of Kurdish salaries by the federal government. This is our only point of criticism to US officials.” Barzani concluded by saying, “We have not divided Iraq, we have just practiced our rights.”