Turkey Threatens to Invade Iraq, Cut Off Oil Pipeline

Initial results for the Kurdish independence referendum show that around 95 percent of people voted in favour of separation from Iraq and the formation of an independent Kurdistan state.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has threatened to invade Iraq, and said he could cut off the oil export pipeline from Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, following the vote supporting independence in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“We have the tap,” he said. “It is done once, we close the tap.”

The pipeline typically carries between 500,000 and 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

In a strongly-worded speech, Mr Erdoğan said that fighting the Iraqi Kurdish bid for independence was “a matter of survival”.

His Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, added that Ankara could take punitive measures involving borders and air space against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Shares in Genel Energy fell seven percent in early trading on the 26^th September, but had recovered by lunchtime; Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) was down two percent, while Norway’s DNO was five percent higher.