Iraq's Kurds Make $170 Million From Oil Sales Via Turkey

Kurdish regional government's revenue from oil sales via Turkey totals $170 million so far, Rebaz Mohammad, the government's minister for finance and economy, said Friday.



Oil export from the Kurdish government to Turkey's Ceyhan port started on May 22 and Turkey has transferred 6.5 million barrels of Iraq oil to international markets. 



Mohammad told the Anadolu Agency in an interview that the payments for the oil sales are being deposited at Halkbank first, a Turkish lender. He added that the money is then transferred to International Bank of Kurdistan in Erbil.



Responding to a question on Kurdish economy, Mohammad said Kurdish region's economy has been going downhill since the attacks by Islamic State militants started.



The minister also underlined that the central government in Iraq also has been denying to pay the Kurdish government's share from Iraqi budget for the last eight months.  



After the Iraqi central government suspended funds from oil income to the Kurdish administration, Erbil went on to export oil in late May saying it would serve as compensation for the budget cut.



Mohammad underlined that the Kurdish administration would try its utmost to secure its share of budget, when the new government in Iraq is established.



"Otherwise, the KRG will not be a part of the [central] government," he said, using the an abbreviation for the Kurdish regional government.



In early June, Iraqi President Fuad Masum asked al-Abadi, deputy parliamentary chairman, to form a government, snubbing Maliki, who had wanted a third term as prime minister.



The U.S., Turkey and Iran, as well as Iraq's Kurdish, Sunni, and Shiite groups have welcomed al-Abadi's nomination. He has to form a unity government within a month.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara