On June 20, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani welcomed the newly appointed Consul General of Turkiye in the Kurdistan Region Erman Topçu and underscored the significance of the Development Road Project (DRP).

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The DRP is a 1,200-kilometer strategic railway and highway project that will connect Turkiye and Iraq to their neighbors and the rest of the world through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines.

Prime Minister Barzani stressed the necessity of the Kurdistan Region’s participation in this strategic endeavor.

The two sides also discussed efforts to facilitate the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.

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Mohammed Salih, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Kurdistan Chronicle that the “Kurdistan Region wants to be included in the DRP because it will improve connectivity between the Kurdistan Region, the rest of Iraq, and Turkiye.” 

“Excluding Kurdistan will send a very grave and negative message that the government in Baghdad does not consider the Kurdistan Region to be part of Iraq. It acts as if it wants to benefit from all the resources in Kurdistan – such as oil, internal revenues, and water – but does not want to share the economic benefits of a trade project with the region.”

That said, he underlined that the recent talks between the KRG and Baghdad related to the DRP appear to have been positive. “It is imperative that Kurdistan is included in the DPR as it will boost peace in the region and allow all communities to benefit from such a major strategic project.”