President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (R) and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi (L) address a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on July 28, 2026. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye could get up to 1 million barrels of oil per day under a “historic” energy cooperation plan discussed on July 28 with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Ankara.
Al-Zaidi was in Türkiye for talks on security, trade, energy, transportation and water management, as well as joint infrastructure projects between the two neighbors.
A previous agreement between the two countries for the Kirkuk-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline had expired.
Erdoğan said Türkiye’s state-owned petroleum company TPAO would acquire a 15 percent stake in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited under a separate share‑transfer agreement reached on July 28.
“The agreement signed today is a historic step for partnership in the field of energy,” Erdoğan said during a joint press statement with al-Zaidi.
Al-Zaidi, who emerged as a consensus candidate in Iraq after months of deadlock over the premiership following last year’s parliamentary elections, was visiting Ankara in the wake of trips to Washington and Tehran.
Following al-Zaidi’s talks with U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month, U.S. companies signed agreements and partnerships worth around $60 billion with Iraq, including deals intended to create alternative routes for shipping oil out of the Persian Gulf.
One project under consideration is a pipeline that would connect southern Iraq’s Basra to western Iraq’s Haditha and from there to the Ceyhan port in Türkiye and the port of Baniyas on Syria’s coast.
The meeting in Ankara came as Türkiye is engaged in talks to end a decades-long conflict with PKK, whose members are largely based in northern Iraq. Last year, the terror group announced it was laying down arms and disbanding as part of the efforts.
“We are in close dialogue with our Iraqi brothers to ensure that our process of a terror‑free Türkiye and our vision of a terror‑free region become a reality,” Erdoğan said. “God willing, we will permanently remove this issue — which has imposed heavy costs on both countries — from our agenda.”
PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Al-Zaidi is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on July 30 at a time of heightened tensions after the kingdom alleged that Iran-backed Iraqi militias launched drone attacks against it.
He has pledged to disarm non-state armed groups in Iraq by the end of September, a deadline that is likely challenging to meet.
On July 27, al-Zaidi ordered security agencies to investigate the alleged drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi military said in a statement, adding that Iraq is committed to “preventing Iraqi territory from being used as a route or launching point for any attack targeting brotherly or friendly countries.”
The militias have denied any role in the attack. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, in a statement described the Saudi claims as “fabrications” and an “attempt to justify their inability to respond to the painful Yemeni strikes that have targeted the heart of their infrastructure,” implying that the attacks were carried out by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The militias added that “any foolish Saudi action will be met with a harsh response that will leave them biting their fingers in regret.”
