Kurdistan
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz (left) and Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (right) in a meeting on April 18, 2025. Photo: Masrour Barzani/Facebook
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish leaders on Friday received Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz to discuss stalled oil exports, Turkey’s peace process, and other regional developments.
“The meeting discussed the development of bilateral relations in various fields and the latest developments in the general situation in Iraq and the region,” read a statement from Prime Minister Masrour Barzani about his meeting with the visiting Turkish official.
“They also discussed the importance of resuming the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region through the port of Ceyhan,” the statement added.
Exports of Kurdish oil through Turkey’s Ceyhan port have been halted since March 2023 following a court ruling that Ankara had violated an agreement with Baghdad by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil independently.
Despite months of talks between Erbil, Baghdad, and the oil producers, the exports have yet to resume. Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said Wednesday that a delegation from the KRG’s natural resources ministry will visit Baghdad on Saturday for further discussions. Prior to the halt, the Kurdistan Region was exporting about 400,000 barrels of oil per day through the pipeline, in addition to 75,000 barrels per day from Kirkuk.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani also received Yilmaz and discussed the peace process in Turkey and the Development Road Project, Iraq’s strategic plan to link the Persian Gulf to Turkey and Europe through highways and railways crossing the country.
The KRG has raised concerns over the project, unhappy that the main corridor bypasses the Kurdistan Region and could undermine its control over cross-border trade and customs. In late March, the Region’s transport ministry denied reaching any agreement with the federal government on the project.
Yilmaz also met with Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, who reaffirmed the KRG’s full support for the peace process between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
In a post on X, Talabani said he “discussed Türkiye’s peace process, regional issues, Iraq elections & KRG formation with Türkiye’s Deputy FM Nuh Yilmaz.”
The peace process began in October 2024 after Devlet Bahceli, leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, symbolically extended a hand to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, suggesting he be allowed to address parliament and dissolve the group.
In February, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) released a letter from Ocalan in which he called on the PKK to disarm and disband. The message raised hopes for an end to the four-decade conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
Ankara has demanded the PKK’s immediate disarmament and surrender, while the group insists on Ocalan’s release to oversee a congress that would finalize its dissolution.
The PKK has its headquarters in the Kurdistan Region.
Before his visit to Erbil, Yilmaz was in Baghdad where he discussed security issues with Iraq’s defense minister. Last year, Iraq formally banned the PKK.
“The meeting discussed the development of bilateral relations in various fields and the latest developments in the general situation in Iraq and the region,” read a statement from Prime Minister Masrour Barzani about his meeting with the visiting Turkish official.
“They also discussed the importance of resuming the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region through the port of Ceyhan,” the statement added.
Exports of Kurdish oil through Turkey’s Ceyhan port have been halted since March 2023 following a court ruling that Ankara had violated an agreement with Baghdad by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil independently.
Despite months of talks between Erbil, Baghdad, and the oil producers, the exports have yet to resume. Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said Wednesday that a delegation from the KRG’s natural resources ministry will visit Baghdad on Saturday for further discussions. Prior to the halt, the Kurdistan Region was exporting about 400,000 barrels of oil per day through the pipeline, in addition to 75,000 barrels per day from Kirkuk.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani also received Yilmaz and discussed the peace process in Turkey and the Development Road Project, Iraq’s strategic plan to link the Persian Gulf to Turkey and Europe through highways and railways crossing the country.
The KRG has raised concerns over the project, unhappy that the main corridor bypasses the Kurdistan Region and could undermine its control over cross-border trade and customs. In late March, the Region’s transport ministry denied reaching any agreement with the federal government on the project.
Yilmaz also met with Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, who reaffirmed the KRG’s full support for the peace process between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
In a post on X, Talabani said he “discussed Türkiye’s peace process, regional issues, Iraq elections & KRG formation with Türkiye’s Deputy FM Nuh Yilmaz.”
The peace process began in October 2024 after Devlet Bahceli, leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, symbolically extended a hand to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, suggesting he be allowed to address parliament and dissolve the group.
In February, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) released a letter from Ocalan in which he called on the PKK to disarm and disband. The message raised hopes for an end to the four-decade conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
Ankara has demanded the PKK’s immediate disarmament and surrender, while the group insists on Ocalan’s release to oversee a congress that would finalize its dissolution.
The PKK has its headquarters in the Kurdistan Region.
Before his visit to Erbil, Yilmaz was in Baghdad where he discussed security issues with Iraq’s defense minister. Last year, Iraq formally banned the PKK.
Updated at 7:44 pm
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