Turkey Seeks 'Interdependence' With Iraqi Kurdistan
Turkish officials seek to set the record straight that Ankara seeks interdependence with, not independence for, Iraqi Kurdistan, writes Tulin Daloglu.
![Kurdistan Regional Government Natural Resources Minister Hawrami shakes hands with Turkey's Energy Minister Yildiz during a joint news conference in Arbil Kurdistan Regional Government Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami (R) shakes hands with Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz during a joint news conference in Arbil, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, May 20,2012. Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region expects to start exporting oil from its fields along a new pipeline to the Turkish border when the line is complete in August 2013, Hawrami said on Sunday. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY POLITICS)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2013/01/1-RTR32CE3.jpg/1-RTR32CE3.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=tx2-ek9H)
“Turkey’s policy is to strengthen economic interdependence with Iraqi Kurds, not to leverage them to independence,” a prominent Turkish official told Al-Monitor.
As Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to bring a closure to Turkey’s Kurdish issue once and for all, his policy also comes under the scrutiny of the neighboring countries.