One of the few success stories of our troubled part of the world has been the enormous progress in relations between Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG).  Due in parts to wise leadership, strategic thinking and a tactical shift from both sides, relations today are arguably the best they have ever been. Potential economic and political gains for both sides are being realized – something that in early 2008 was impossible to imagine as troops lined the border and relations were at an all-time low.

Since the early 1990s there has been a relationship between the second largest force in NATO and Iraq’s most progressive and emerging region. That relationship has ebbed and flowed, and has historically hinged on two factors: the PKK and cross border trade. 

Turkey’s long running battle with the PKK meant that at times Turkey would enter Iraqi Kurdistan in pursuit of the group and at other times in collaboration with Iraqi Kurdish forces.  The thinking was that the PKK could be disarmed, or even defeated militarily. That thinking has since changed and has now become more realistic.  It reflects political and social realities when envisaging a possible solution.  Turkey today recognizes that and the Kurdish issue is more complex than a few thousand armed members holed up in Iraqi Kurdistan’s mountainous borders between Iraq, Iran and Turkey.

Interestingly, whether conflict or calm prevailed trade always flowed.  Even in 2008, when there were 100,000 Turkish troops amassed on the border of the Kurdistan Region, the border gate of Khabur only closed for a few hours while the troops passed by.

The past two years have produced a paradigm shift. Turkey has rightfully decided that it is neither Eastern nor Western; rather it is today playing a role as a powerful regional player, strategically straddling both East and West.  Turkey has also begun a serious domestic debate about the Kurdish question - a question that is widely recognized today as a Kurdish and not, as in previous years, solely a Turkish question.

This shift comes at a time when the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq has emerged from an ignored bit-part player, and has become a strategic and powerful element in a complex geopolitical game.  The Kurdistan region’s clout within Iraq, as demonstrated by the critical role it played in finally bringing the various Iraqi political groups together to help break the logjam over government formation, coupled with a burgeoning economy and hydrocarbons reserves, makes it a sought after political and economic ally.

These turns of event and changes in fortune have yielded an emerging, and potentially strategic, relationship between Turkey and the KRG.  For today, Turkish leaders frequent Erbil, and last year the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani officially visited Turkey – as President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.  Today when KRG and Turkish officials talk, the talking point is no longer solely ‘The PKK’.  Rather, discussions range from Iraq, to Kurdistan’s political development, trade and economy, energy security and development, and of course security.

Last year, Turkey opened up its consulate in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.   Aydın Selcen, Turkey’s capable Consul General in Erbil stated that in 2009, trade between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region reached close to $9 billion. KRG figures estimate that 60% of the foreign companies working in Kurdistan are Turkish. 

Oil and gas have played, and will continue to play, a game-changing role in this part of the world. Kurdistan’s oil and gas reserves can, if tapped into, address most of Turkey's own energy needs, while at the same time providing a reliable and constant source of energy to Europe via the planned Nabucco pipeline. This potential is why Iraq must swiftly resolve the outstanding issues as it pertains to hydrocarbons management and revenue sharing.

It is a promising sign that this early in the new Iraqi administration’s tenure KRG Prime Minister Dr. Barham Salih has reached an agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki to resume exports of oil from oil fields in the Kurdistan Region.

 It would be prudent for both the United States, (who remains vested in the emergence of a stable, economically strong and federal Iraq), and Turkey (who is well placed to strategically benefit from improved energy relations with Iraq, via the Kurdistan Region), to engage both Baghdad and Erbil so that the outstanding issues relevant to hydrocarbons and revenue sharing laws are ratified sooner rather than later.

Today’s successful cooperation and increasingly strong relationship seem almost natural, as if we can take this bounty for granted. We must not do so. Instead, we should build on the good will and the strategic interests generated over the past few years between the KRG and Turkey by continuing the wise leadership from both sides that will ensure a strategic, long lasting and mutually beneficial future.  Beyond our borders, the region’s growing levels of tension, economic hardship and radicalization, will be constant wolves ready to devour our rare progress.  This strategic relationship - coupled with a solidified partnership with the United States - if fully realized will strengthen stability and economic prosperity in an increasingly unstable part of the world.  That is in all of our best interest.

Qubad Talabani is the Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to the United States.  He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/qubadjt