Turkey Angry Over Iraqi Oil Policy

Turkish State Minister Kursat Tuzmen (right) (file photo) (InterPressNews) January 29, 2007 -- Turkey called on Baghdad today to retract an apparent change in its oil policy.

Ankara says the change makes the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq Turkey's sole interlocutors for contract renewals of Turkish firms that ship petroleum products to Iraq.


Turkish State Minister for Foreign Trade Kursat Tuzmen accused Iraq's government of breaching bilateral agreements and warned that failure to rectify the situation would force Ankara "to revise certain policies" vis-a-vis its neighbor.


Turkey imports Iraqi oil, which it refines and sends back to Iraq by trucks.


(AFP)