A flame rises from a chimney at Taq Taq oil field in Arbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, August 16, 2014. Picture taken August 16, 2014. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
Baghdad, Tehran, and Ankara are taking action against Kurdistan’s oil sector after the independence referendum, Rudaw reports.
“In the case of northern Iraq, Iran, Iraq and Turkey will form a tripartite mechanism and will decide on shutting down the oil,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on a return flight on Thursday after a visit to Tehran, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) produces around 600,000 bpd of crude oil, or about 15 percent of Iraq’s total output. KRG exports the oil to international markets through a pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port. Both Turkey and Iran had previously threatened to close their borders and impose sanctions on oil exports in the aftermath of the referendum, fearing separatist unrest in their own Kurdish minorities.
The Kurdistan independence referendum took place on September 25. Iraqi Kurds overwhelmingly voted for independence, defying the central government in Baghdad as well as neighboring Turkey and Iran.
Backed by Ankara and Tehran, the Iraqi government has demanded that the Kurdish leadership cancel the result of the referendum or face the prospect of sanctions, international isolation and military intervention.
