(5.6.2014) Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq on Wednesday announced the signing of a 50-year deal to export Kurdish oil to the north.

KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani unveiled the deal during a speech to Iraqi Kurdistan‘s parliament in Irbil, capital of the Kurdish-dominated region in northern Iraq.

The agreement comes amid growing international criticism over the deepening relationship between Iraq‘s Kurdish region and Turkey — a relationship that bypasses Iraq‘s central government, straining Baghdad‘s relations with Irbil and Ankara.