On Wednesday, former MP Muhammad Al-Shabki confirmed that Barzani’s party is still smuggling oil and other derivatives to Turkey and Syria using tanks. He pointed out that the party controls the oil file in areas outside the region’s borders, with the aim of achieving economic gains.
According to Al-Shabki, the Kurdistan Democratic Party is in charge of managing the oil resources in certain areas that fall outside the borders of the region. They have been trying to take over the territories from where the Kurdistan Workers’ Party members withdrew so that they can gain more control over the oil resources.
He mentioned that the party in question has been exporting oil from areas outside the region’s borders since 2009 or earlier, without considering the central government’s stance. Therefore, it is attempting to exert more control over any areas that are vacant or have been abandoned by the Labor Party, with the intention of maintaining its dominance over the oil sector.
He said that while the Turkish side has ceased to receive Iraqi oil smuggled from the aforementioned party, derivatives and oil are still being smuggled via tanks through Turkey and Syria.
