ANKARA
Turkey will explore for oil in the Hindirin and Coman fields near Mount Qandil in northern Iraq, said Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz on Monday.
"We have agreements with Baghdad and Northern Iraq. In the frame of these agreements we will explore for oil there," he said in Ankara at a meeting with the rector of Hacettepe University.
Yildiz said that the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party’s statements on the issue of disarmament of the terrorist group are an important step also for energy.
"Especially in eastern and southeastern Turkey we have oil and natural gas reserves. We will have more resources after the removal of the PKK’s pressure there," Yildiz said.
The PKK has fought for an independent Kurdish state since 1984, and its terrorist attacks have claimed around 36,000 lives in Turkey.
Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union list the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Yildiz said that lower oil prices might mean a discount for Turkish consumers. "There can be an additional discount for Turkish people due to crude oil prices."
