Ties that bind in Turkey

Energy and economic interdependence between Turkey and the KRG will transcend political crises

From the air, the extent to which Istanbul is pushing ever outwards becomes clear. The barren hills and wasteland have become construction sites for countless clusters of high-rise apartments buildings. Closer to the airport, tankers unloading petroleum products are a reminder that the oil and gas required to meet the demands of a swelling population must be imported, with 29% of Turkey's oil coming from northern Iraq. This overwhelming reliance on imports (99% for natural gas and 90% for oil) is a matter of concern for the government. No surprise, then, that energy minister Berat Albayrak, unveiling a new strategy for the sector, says one of the goals is to "decrease the country's dependenc