Parliamentary Oil Committee: Türkiye is blackmailing Iraq in an attempt to dominate energy corridors.
Parliamentary Oil Committee: Türkiye is blackmailing Iraq in an attempt to dominate energy corridors.
7-26-2026
The former member of the parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, Basim al-Gharibawi, confirmed on Sunday that Turkey is attempting to exploit the issue of increased Iraqi oil exports via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to avoid paying internationally mandated financial compensation owed to it.
Al-Gharibawi told the Information Agency that “Ankara is working to exploit Iraq’s need to find alternative routes to the Strait of Hormuz for oil exports, following the recent tensions in the region resulting from the American-Israeli aggression against Iran.” He indicated that “the Turkish side will exert pressure on the Iraqi negotiating delegation to force it to waive its outstanding debts.”
He added that “Ankara’s attempts to blackmail Iraq constitute a violation of the principle of good neighborliness, as it is using political blackmail, exploiting Baghdad’s economic hardship to extract gains and formulate long-term agreements ranging from 5 to 10 years that guarantee it absolute control over Iraqi energy routes.”
It should be noted that the International Court of Arbitration in Paris had ordered Ankara to pay $1.5 billion to Iraq as compensation for the smuggling of oil from the Kurdistan Region. Turkey, however, refuses to pay the court-ordered fine and is attempting to use the ban on renewing the agreement as leverage to eliminate Iraq’s financial rights in exchange for allowing oil exports to resume.
almaalomah.me
