By John Lee. On a three-day visit to Turkey, Iraq’s foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has reportedly told his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, that oil affairs in Iraq, including Iraqi Kurdistan, come under the control of Baghdad. At a join press conference he said that they are trying to resolve the recent “mistakes” with Turkey, a […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that Iraqi Kurdistan plans to increase the capacity of its oil pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan to 700,000 bpd. Work to upgrade the line is expected to boost the flow from 280,000 bpd at present to 400,000 bpd by year-end, eventually reaching the design maximum of 700,000 bpd. A […]
By John Lee. Nechirvan Barzani (pictured), Iraqi Kurdistan's Prime Minister, has denied reports that Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) will open an office in Erbil. Kurdish MP, Dilshad Sha’ban, has also told BasNews: “After we heard reports of SOMO wants to open office in Kurdistan region, we followed on the report, and we found […]
By John Lee. Shares in Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) closed 14 percent higher on Wednesday following the company's announcement that it is to reschedule its Interim Management Statement. The shares had been up as much as 30 percent in the afternoon, on expectations of positive news to follow. The company statement said: "As a result […]
Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with the commander of the United States Central Command General Lloyd Austin and the US Ambassador to Iraq Mr. Stuart Jones in Erbil on Tuesday. The President and the US general discussed the military campaign currently underway against the ISIS terrorists and the military support of the US to […]
Chinese Consul General Tan Banglin this week visited the KRG Department of Foreign Relations to present his credentials as his country’s first diplomat posted to Kurdistan, and to discuss areas of cooperation between both sides. Minister Falah Mustafa warmly welcomed Consul General Banglin and congratulated him on his new post, assuring him of the KRG’s […]
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani today received Ivan Šimonović, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, and his accompanying delegation. The delegation said that compared to their previous visit back in 2011, they noticed sound improvements made by the Kurdistan Region in the areas of diplomacy, foreign relations, infrastructure, a free press, freedom of speech, […]
The United States and its allies will continue to provide support and assistance to the Kurdistan Region, a visiting US delegation told Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani yesterday. The Prime Minister, along with a number of senior Kurdistan Regional Government officials yesterday in Erbil welcomed the United States Deputy National Secretary Advisor Anthony Blinken and his […]
KRG officials call upon the international community to help abducted Kurdish Yezidi women KRG officials seek international mobilization to consider the case of women abducted by ISIS terrorists. Following severe terrorists attacks against Kurdish Yezidi towns and villages in late July and early August, a large number of women and underage girls were abducted. According […]
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Nickolay Mladenov (pictured) held meetings on Sunday with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s Parliament. The meeting focused on the continuous cooperation between the KR-I and the central government, as well as on the current humanitarian burden on the KR-I. He received a copy […]
The KRG Ministry of Planning and the United Nations have finalised an immediate response plan for Iraqi IDPs sheltered in the Kurdistan Region, including clear objectives to be met by 15 November 2014. The joint document states: "This massive influx of people in a short period has created a grave humanitarian crisis and is pushing […]
By Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Erbil, Baghdad Strengthen Ties in face of Islamic State It was never impossible to repair the long-strained relationship between the Baghdad and Erbil governments. Compromise had always been available to both parties. […]
