How Turkey lost its influence in Iraq
Ankara's tilt toward the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has undermined its once considerable influence in Iraq.
Turkey's bid to throw its lot into a controversial oil deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has so far proven to be a losing hand in Iraq.
Al-Monitor's Denise Natali indicated in her May 29 article that the move shows the extent to which Ankara and the KRG are willing to defy Baghdad.
In a further sign of that defiance, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told the Iraqi Kurdish parliament in Erbil this week that a 50-year energy accord had been signed with Turkey.
Baghdad considers Turkey’s complicity in the still-murky deal, which will likely be challenged in international arbitration, as contributing to Iraq’s political crisis, and has lodged a complaint against Turkey with the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce.
