Publication

This brief discusses the factors that led Turkey to change its foreign policy and make the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq an essential component of its regional strategic outlook. The author suggests a key factor in this change was the country’s increasing energy needs. However, she also argues Ankara’s partnership with the KRG is not solely driven by energy considerations; it also gives Turkey a strategic ally which operates as a buffer against a hostile Baghdad and Iran as well as a partner in its quest to resolve its own Kurdish problem.