Kurdish Region May Directly Supply Gas to Turkey

Kurdish region may begin selling natural gas directly to Turkey within two years.

"Even if there's no consensus with Baghdad, we will continue to sell natural gas and oil to Turkey," KRG Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami told the Caspian Gas Forum in Istanbul, reported Reuters.

He added that they plan to sell 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey and later Europe in the long-term.

The move may anger the Iraqi central government and further strain Baghdad's ties with Ankara.

The Kurdish region is obliged to attract investment from abroad, he said. "If we left everything up to Baghdad this would not work."