It is no secret, thanks to frequent leaks to the media, that energy cooperation between Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is continuing apace. This, however, has not broken the determination by both sides to maintain a low-key position on the subject. The sensitivity is due to strained ties between Baghdad, Ankara and Erbil over a number of issues, including the exploitation of northern Iraqi oil and gas.
The KRG has been demanding an independent say over the gas and oil in its region, arguing that Baghdad has not honored its pledge to give the Iraqi Kurds their rightful share of Iraq’s oil revenues. Baghdad denies this and has declared the KRG’s stance illegal and dangerous in terms of Iraq’s territorial integrity.