Skip to main content

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 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)

“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.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.