Kurds Use Oil Tankers to Challenge Baghdad's Control

Ankara's relationship with Baghdad is being tested by 1 million barrels of crude oil, sourced from Iraqi Kurdistan, on board an oil tanker sitting idle off the coast of Morocco. The attempt to export oil in defiance of Baghdad represents a bold move by Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, one that was probably calculated by Arbil and Ankara.

Turkey wants the Kurds and Iraq's Shiite-dominated central government to resolve their differences so that oil from northern Iraq can be exported through Turkey. Ankara also wants to consolidate its influence in its southern neighbor. To do that, Ankara is trying to draw in the United States to mediate the situation. As tensions flare, Washington will work to maintain the regional balance, key to the United States' goal of disengaging from the Middle East to focus on greater strategic priorities.