ANKARA
By Gulsen Cagatay
Turkey is our partner and we depend on it, Minister of Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government said on Friday in the Blue Peace for the Middle East Forum in Istanbul.
Abdul-Sattar Qadir said that "as far as our mutual interest exists and continues, Turkey is our partner and we depend on it."
Qadir speaking to the Anadolu Agency said the priority in trade between Turkey and the KRG is a joint and shared interest, and the current main source of income for the economy is to sell oil to international markets.
"Because Turkey now is the main source that we can depend on, Turkey is also benefiting. Our relationship is now at a very high level," he said. So far we have political agreement and protocols with the Turkish government in place at a very high level.
Qadir stressed the reliability of Turkey as currently there is no conflict nor can he see any future potential conflict with the Turkish government.
"The oil issue in Kurdish region is very significant both economically and politically. It is a very critical issue for the development of the economy of the country. However, it is our policy in the current cabinet to diversify from solely being dependent on oil, and we hope that in the future oil is not the only source of revenue for the economy," Qadir said adding that in terms of oil they were very very rich.
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