Turkey's Partnership with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq In the Energy Field After 2011

The idea of the research is concentrated around a desire of both Turkey and the Kurdistan region of Iraq to develop relations between them to the level of energy strategic partnership after 2011, driven by several factors, including the need for both parties to deepen that cooperation at the current stage. Turkey needs oil and gas from the Kurdistan region at low prices to secure its huge energy needs and the possibility of developing it and making it one of its most important resources in the future. The Kurdistan Regional Government, on its part, also needs to produce energy and export it through Turkey to secure its growing financial needs, especially after the escalation of disputes with the central government in Baghdad over a set of contentious issues such as sending the regions share of the budget, the oil and gas law, and others. The research came out with a number of conclusions that focused on the necessity for this partnership not to be at the expense of bilateral relations with Iraq, Turkey should seek to solve the existing problems between the two countries in all fields, and to contribute to settling differences between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government if it really wants to continue its partnership with the Kurdistan Regional Government with prior approval and coordination with the Iraqi government in Baghdad.