BAGHDAD, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Iraqi officials say the Kurdistan Regional Government was given authority to sign fuels deals with Turkey because of a growing fuels crisis.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh responded Wednesday to growing criticism from Ankara after Turkish fuels companies were directed by the central Iraqi government to deal with the Kurds directly, the New Anatolian reported.
Turkey has refused to recognize Kurdistan as any authority and insists on dealing with the Iraqi central government. Turkey has threatened to invade if Kurdistan secedes from Iraq or is given extra autonomy and is amassing troops at its border now.
Saleh said the KRG had complained that the fuels rationing conducted by the central government in Baghdad was not reaching the northern region, thus creating shortages of transportation, cooking and heating fuels and leading to instability in the most stable part of Iraq.
Kurdistan, which has been semiautonomous since 1991, is relatively free of the violence that affects the rest of Iraq. It even has begun signing deals with foreign companies to develop its vast oil reserves.
Despite having the world's third-largest oil reserves, Iraq's oil production has been hurt by poor infrastructure and war. These are factors hurting Iraq's oil refining capacity, as is a lack of electricity and bottlenecking at facilities.
Iraq suffers form an expensive oil-smuggling racket as well.
Last week Iraq's state fuels company told Turkish companies looking to resign contracts that it should talk to Irbil, Kurdistan's capital, instead of Baghdad.
"If Turkey recognizes the Iraqi constitution, then Turkey also has to recognize the legality of the KRG," Saleh said. "The KRG has been created by this constitution. If not, then Turkey does not recognize this constitution, then it means it does not recognize Iraqi sovereignty and that may create a very serious situation."
Saleh said the central government will handle fuel imports for the rest of the country, aside from the KRG.
