Politics

It is up to Baghdad to resume Kurdistan Region’s oil export, says KRG Foreign Minister Head

Regarding the resumption of Kurdistan Region’s oil export, Minister Dizayee remarked that Turkey has shown its readiness to resume the procedures of the export of oil and that all the technical issues have been fixed, such as the pipeline.

Kurdistan 24 2024/02/20 09:30

Head of the KRG’s Department of Foreign Relations, Minister Safeen Dizayee. (Photo: Kurdistan24)

Kurdistan Oil Exports Safeen Dizayee

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Announced on Monday, Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations, Minister Safeen Dizayee announced that in order to resume the Kurdistan Region oil export, the ball is in Baghdad’s court, and that Turkey has formally informed of its readiness to resume the procedures.

Minister Safeen Dizayee explained in an announcement to the media that during both Munich Security Conference and Dubai COP23, “Kurdistan Region’s President as well as the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region had rigorous meetings with the heads of all the participating states, and they discussed the existing security situation and events in the Middle East.”

He noted that having discussions over the issues between Erbil and Baghdad and finding lasting solutions were the main topics for both the President and the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region.

“Kurdistan Region is one of the main characters in maintaining the peace and stability of the region,” he added.

“Now it is up to Baghdad to make the decision to resume the export,” he emphasized.

He further clarified that the remaining issue between Baghdad and Ankara results from the Paris court ruling and this remains an issue that they have to resolve among each other. As it stands, whereas the estimates of economic loss to the Kurdistan region reach ten billion dollars, Iraq is asking for a billion and half Dollars as compensation from Turkey.

Additionally, Minister Dizayee reaffirmed the importance of continuing talks to resolve the outstanding issues between Kurdistan Region and Baghdad as well as the resumption of oil export.

The export of Kurdish oil has been halted since March 25 after Iraq claimed victory against Turkey at a Paris-based international court for allowing independent Kurdish oil exports.