Turkey and Kurdistan region: economy or security, which one Turkey seeks?

Abstract

Turkey’s relationship with the KRG has improved tremendously, especially from 2008 onwards. There are many factors which have contributed to this dramatic change, in particular the economic factor; however, very few scholars look at the KRG-Turkey relations beyond the economic and energy drive, especially the role of security has not been less important. The central question that will be addressed in this paper is, how and why did Turkey become engaged in the KRG in post-2003 Iraq? Which factor has more driven Turkey in their relations with the KRG? To do so, I have mainly relied on the Regional Security Complex theory, which has been formulated by Buzan and Wæver (2003). I will argue that, despite the economic and energy calculations, the Kurdish factor, in particular the PKK factor as a security matter, whether locally or regionally, has been the main reason behind Turkey-KRG relations in both post-2003 Iraq and the KRG