ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar visited Baghdad on Sunday to discuss expanding Turkey’s electricity and gas supplies to Iraq. The visit comes amid Baghdad’s push to diversify its energy sources following the recent US decision to revoke a waiver that allowed Iraq to import electricity from Iran. Bayraktar met with Iraqi Electricity Minister Ziad Ali Fadhil to explore “cooperation opportunities, especially increasing the interconnection capacity between the two countries and investing in renewable energy,” according to a statement he shared on X. “We also evaluated the possibilities to continue increasing our electricity,” he added. Fadhil renewed “his invitation to Turkish companies specialized in renewable energy to operate in Iraq,” emphasizing that Baghdad is “working to implement an integrated strategy to diversify energy sources,” according to a from his ministry. The electricity ministry also said that necessary technical measures have been taken to “increase the supply capacity through the Iraqi-Turkish interconnection line to 600 megawatts,” up from the initial 300 megawatts of electricity intended to be delivered following the line’s inauguration in July. Bayraktar also met with Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani. “We evaluated cooperation opportunities [between Iraq and Turkey] to realize the high potential in the production, transmission and trade areas in the oil and natural gas sectors in order to reach the trade volume target set by our leaders,” Bayraktar said in a statement on X following the meeting. The Iraqi oil ministry on Sunday stated that Abdul Ghani and Bayraktar discussed “bilateral relations between the two countries in the fields of oil, gas and energy.” Additionally, the Turkish official met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein to discuss “the possibility of supplying Iraq with electricity from Turkey to make up for the deficit during peak seasons,” according to a statement from the foreign ministry. The meeting also focused on “encouraging Turkish companies and providing the necessary facilities to invest in the oil and gas sector in Iraq,” the statement added. Iraq has long been dependent on energy imports from Iran, with US waivers allowing Baghdad to bypass sanctions on Tehran to meet its energy needs. However, in early February, US President Donald Trump restored his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran with aims of reducing Iran's oil exports to zero, arguing that Tehran is “too close” to obtaining nuclear weapons. Washington has accordingly rescinded a waiver allowing Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran as part of Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Tehran, read a March 9 statement by the State Department. Speaking to Rudaw on Saturday, Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi asserted however that Iraq is fully prepared for the US’s rescinding its waiver.
