Turkiye takes ‘historic step’ on energy alliance with Iraq

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Reuters reporting, says Turkiye is moving toward a broader energy arrangement with Iraq that could see Ankara receive as much as 1 million barrels per day of Iraqi crude. Speaking at a joint news conference in Ankara on Tuesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Erdogan said state-owned Turkish Petroleum would take a 15 percent stake in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited, linked to the BP-run Kirkuk oilfield in northern Iraq.

The talks came as a long-standing Iraq-Turkiye crude oil agreement, dating to the 1975 framework for the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkiye’s Mediterranean export terminal, expired on July 27. Rather than extend that arrangement, Ankara has said it wants a new energy cooperation structure with Baghdad. Erdogan said al-Zaidi had offered to supply Turkiye with 1 million barrels per day, which he framed as important for meeting Turkish demand.

Al Jazeera reported that al-Zaidi’s visit also covered security, trade, transport and water management. Mehmet Celik of Daily Sabah told the outlet the energy deal should be seen alongside Turkiye’s efforts to diversify supply and deepen links with Iraq through security and transport projects, particularly amid regional disruptions affecting Gulf shipping routes.

The prospective deal matters because Iraq remains a major oil producer while Turkiye is a key transit and consumer market. The relationship is also shaped by sensitive security issues, including Turkish military operations in northern Iraq against the PKK, which Ankara, the United States and the European Union designate as a terrorist organization. Erdogan said the two governments were in close contact on regional security goals.