Premier Barzani, Davutoglu Discuss Energy & Trade Ties in Van

MORE & MORE COMING TOGETHER VIA TRADE

By RÛDAW 17-3-2014 – VAN, Turkey – The years of hostility between Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region and Turkey are a closed chapter, Kurdish Premier Nechirvan Barzani said in the Kurdish city of Van, vowing to “do what we can” to boost economic and diplomatic ties even more.

During his weekend visit, Barzani met in Van with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet  Davutoglu, in what appears to be the latest talks on independent oil and gas exports to Turkey, which both sides want to begin, but Iraq’s central government in Baghdad has strongly opposed. “Turkey has taken a successful step to peace which should continue,” said Barzani, referring to Ankara’s ceasefire a year ago with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought a decades-long war for greater rights for Turkey’s oppressed and large Kurdish minority. “We have hopes for a better future and have big dreams for the future,” Barzani said. “We have always had relations, but they are in good standing now. We have no issues at all with each other,” he said, noting that 70 percent of the Kurdistan Region’s $12 billion annual trade already was with neighboring Turkey.

Barzani added that the years of war and hostility between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Turkey are now behind. “In order to make it better, we will do what we can as the KRG to increase our economic and other relations to a level that would serve Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq,” said Barzani. The great leap in ties will take place with the start of oil and gas exports from the KRG to Turkey, through existing and planned pipelines. Erbil began exports early this year to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, but Iraq’s Arab central government has blocked sales, saying it must control revenues. The Kurds have balked at that, and are outraged that Baghdad has frozen the KRG’s share of the national budget as a pressure tool. Turkey is unwilling to antagonize Baghdad, but in the meantime Turkish leaders do not want to pass up opportunities for cheap energy across their southern border with Kurdistan.

Davutoglu said that Barzani’s visit was to discuss bilateral relations between Ankara and Erbil, as well as cross-border trade.

The Turkish foreign minister said Kurdistan and Iraq are very important for Turkey in terms of energy. “We have the industry but not the energy of our own,” he explained. “In all our meetings with the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraq we take into account Iraq’s constitution and how the Kurds and Iraq sort out their constitutional issue,” he pointed out.

“We don’t only want to buy energy from Kurdistan but from southern Iraq as well. It is our right to get energy,” the Turkish minister declared. Barzani confirmed that in the fields of energy and oil, “Everything we have done is in the framework of the Iraqi constitution. But sadly, Iraq is acting against us and doesn’t want us to deal with our own natural resources. “On no account should Baghdad block Kurdistan’s share of the budget, people’s money and salary and use it as a pressure card against the Kurds. It is our own constitutional right and can easily be solved within the constitution,” Barzani said.

“Thank God we have our own energy and that we can sell it. And this is not a threat against Baghdad or anyone at all.”

The Turkish minister disclosed that new roads and border infrastructure are planned, designed to lift trade and bilateral ties.

“Most of the roads used to go through the mountains and are very difficult for people to use. Now, we intend to make proper border crossings across the border, to make it easy for traveling and trade on both sides,” said Davutoglu. The foreign minister has kept particularly close relations with Erbil, visiting the Kurdish capital on many occasions. Recently, he was in Sulaimani to attend a forum organized by the American University in Iraq. Both leaders said that relations have taken a leap since the visit of President Massoud Barzani last year to Diyarbakir, Turkey’s Kurdish heartland. The venue of the meeting in Van was equally important: The city was the site of a devastating earthquake in October 2011 that killed more than 600 people, injured thousands and destroyed many villages. The KRG contributed millions of dollars to build temporary shelters and provide other necessities for Kurdish villagers.

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