An opposition lawmaker in Turkey has alleged that part of the transport fees paid by Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government for crude shipped through the Iraq–Turkey Pipeline was routed to state pipeline operator BOTAŞ, with the rest totaling $1.4 billion left unaccounted for.
Deniz Yavuzyılmaz of the Republican People’s Party said on August 20 that Deloitte-verified KRG oil reports show $2.32 billion in “tariff payments to Turkish Energy Company,” a Jersey-registered firm tied to Turkey’s side of the trade, for the period from May 2014 to September 2018. He claimed that $904 million then reached BOTAŞ and that $1.416 billion is not accounted for. He said he would add these materials to a filing to seek a trial of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Constitutional Court, which can sit as a Supreme Criminal Tribunal.
Yavuzyılmaz also shared pages from the International Chamber of Commerce tribunal’s 2023 award. The tribunal ordered Turkey to reimburse Iraq $1,324,941,586 for excess transportation charges and awarded Iraq a further $673,034,437.50 for losses connected to discounted oil sales. It found Turkey liable for loading Iraqi crude at Ceyhan on the Kurdistan Regional Government’s instructions rather than Baghdad’s and for denying Iraqi officials access to port facilities for a period in 2014.
The tribunal rejected Iraq’s claims that Turkey violated the agreements merely by transporting or storing Kurdish crude or allowing the regional government to use the pipeline.
The tribunal’s award does not document any transfer from Turkish Energy Company to BOTAŞ or any missing balance. Those elements are Yavuzyılmaz’s claims based on his reading of the Deloitte reports and Turkish audit records.
The Presidential Communications Directorate previously argued that the compensation had not been finalized because Turkey was seeking partial annulment in France. The Paris Court of Appeal rejected Turkey’s application on March 10, 2026, leaving the award intact. Proceedings over recognition and the interest-adjusted judgment amount remain pending in Washington.
Turkey halted flows on the line after the award. A second arbitration over later periods is pending, and Ankara and Baghdad have discussed a new framework for pipeline operations.
Update: This article was updated on July 13, 2026 to clarify the findings and financial components of the 2023 arbitration award and to add the outcome of Turkey’s annulment case in Paris.