(TBMM) - At the GNAT General Assembly, the Parliamentary Inquiry proposals made by CHP and İYİ Party to investigate the Turkey-Iraq crude oil pipeline arbitration case and the 1.47 billion dollar compensation decision were rejected by the votes of the AK Party and MHP. While the opposition argued that the Paris Court of Appeal rejected Türkiye's objection and that public damage should be investigated, the AK Party stated that the arbitration process had not yet been completed and there was no final compensation decision.
The General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly convened under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Pervin Buldan. The General Assembly is expected to discuss the Bill on Amendments to Certain Laws for the Effective and Efficient Operation of the Judiciary, publicly known as the 12th Judicial Package.
Before discussing the proposal, CHP and İYİ Party made separate group proposals. The proposals for a Parliamentary Inquiry to investigate Türkiye's decision to pay 1.47 billion dollars in compensation after losing the case regarding the Türkiye-Iraq oil pipelines were rejected by the votes of the AK Party and MHP.
To explain the reason for the proposal made by the İYİ Party, Afyonkarahisar Deputy Hakan Şeref Olgun stated that there have been news in the media recently about the arbitration process carried out within the scope of Türkiye's Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline agreements and said, "There are news that, upon Türkiye's objection to the arbitration decision given against the Republic of Turkey, the Paris Court of Appeal decided to reject the objection with its decision dated March 10, 2026. The compensation of 1.47 billion dollars, It is claimed that it has turned into a huge public burden that can reach 3 to 3.5 billion dollars, including interest and other financial burdens. So, who will pay this bill? If this is true, will it be those who signed these decisions or will it be those who profit from this process? he said.
Pointing out that retirees, workers, farmers, tradesmen and 86 million citizens will pay the price in question, Olgun said, "However, the issue is not just the compensation to be paid. The real question is: While the Republic of Turkey is faced with such a heavy decision, who has benefited from this process? What is the legal justification for the privilege granted to the company called 'Powertrans' without a tender in 2011? Why was no tender made? Why was there no competition? Why was this activity, which is of strategic importance for Türkiye, left to a single company?" he asked.
Olgun said, "Whose company is Powertrans really? According to allegations that have been reflected in the public for years, there are fund companies based in Singapore, partnership structures with connections to Northern Iraq and 'off shore' organizations in the establishment of the company. It is claimed that the company management is influenced by people who previously worked in certain holdings and people connected to former high-level public officials. We want these allegations to be investigated through official records; if they are not true, they should be refuted in front of the nation, and if they are true, they should be held accountable before those responsible."
Referring to the Central Bank's balance sheet, Olgun said, "While we have not been able to collect our receivables of approximately 1.6 billion dollars from Iraq for forty years... In the balance sheet dated July 3, 2026, this receivable appears as 75.4 billion Turkish liras."
DEM Party Mersin Deputy Ali Bozan said that a decision was taken by the then Council of Ministers on July 18, 2011 and that Türkiye would be sentenced to compensation in accordance with this decision and said, "The basis of the decision issued by the Arbitration Court today is the decision of the Council of Ministers dated 2011 and the responsible ones are the ministers who signed this decision. Today, even according to the Civil Servants Law No. 657, what happens when a public official causes any harm to the public? According to the law, the state goes Then, we say: There is no need to investigate, friends. The Minister of Energy made a statement and said: 'Well, we will get halal, we also have something to gain from them.' We have something to pay, but what this country will get is what 86 million citizens will get. "While you are making the offset there, you will give up the receivables of 86 million citizens, and as a result, the billions of dollars that will come out of the pockets of 86 million citizens living in this country will one day be recoursed to the people who signed this decision," he said.
AK Party Istanbul Deputy Cüneyt Yüksel, in his speech against the investigation proposal of the İYİ Party, argued that the proposal turned the long-standing legal dispute between Türkiye and Iraq into political material. Yüksel said, "The investigation proposal brought before us today is simply an attempt to take the legal dispute arising from an energy agreement between Turkey and Iraq, which has a history of nearly half a century, out of its context and turn it into a political accusation file against the AK Party governments."
Making evaluations about the side of the arbitration case, Yüksel said, "What is at issue here is an arbitration case. The company that carries out the oil transportation business that is the subject of that arbitration case is BOTAŞ. BOTAŞ operates the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline, a company already established for this purpose. It carries the oil coming from Iraq to Ceyhan, and from there it loads the oil sold by Iraq to the ships determined by Iraq. BOTAŞ has nothing to do with oil sales nor with the private companies mentioned here, it is just a transportation business. The arbitration case has nothing to do with the company mentioned here. 'We have accessed confidential information.' "If they take a look at this arbitration decision, which is open to the public and available everywhere, they will see this," he said.
Arguing that the arbitration process has not yet been concluded, Yüksel said, "It has been decided that both countries will pay compensation to each other in the arbitration case. Since Türkiye's receivables go back to the 90s, interest will also be applied to them and, of course, our receivables will be much higher. The decision for this will be made at the court enforcement stage. Who owes how much to whom will become clear as a result of that court. As of today, there is no final decision in this sense. Instead of voicing Türkiye's claims, you are saying things that even Iraq does not demand."
Zonguldak Deputy Deniz Yavuzyılmaz, who took the floor to explain the reason for the proposal made by the CHP, emphasized that the AK Party lost the Paris case and said, "We have reached the conclusion of this case, which has been hidden from the public in Türkiye for four months. We have revealed with the document that this case filed in the Paris Court of Appeal for the annulment of the 1 billion 471 million dollar penalty given to Türkiye by the arbitration due to the irregularities committed by the AKP in the Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline has been lost." "Unfortunately, the countdown has now begun for the repayment of the 1 billion 471 million dollar fine. I hereby warn: This fine amount must be collected from the assets of Tayyip Erdoğan and the relevant AKP executives, not from 86 million citizens."
Continuing his evaluations about the arbitration decision, Yavuzyılmaz said, "According to the final arbitration decision, 673 million dollars of this fine is due to the illegal sale of 233 million barrels of oil at a price of 5 dollars and 77 cents per barrel. So, who bought this illegal and bargain oil? According to the report of the Iraq Energy Institute, of course Israel bought this oil, Greece bought it, the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus and a few other countries bought it."
Yavuzyılmaz said, "Iraq filed a kind of enforcement action in America to collect the penalty amount of 1 billion 471 million dollars. In this case, AKP is trying to make this penalty amount created during its period count towards the receivables and interest of Türkiye from Iraq, which was born in 1990, before its period."
MERTOĞLU: THERE IS NO FINAL COMPENSATION DECISION
Rize Deputy Harun Mertoğlu, speaking on behalf of the AK Party Group, rejected the claims in the justification of the CHP's motion and said, "The group proposal submitted by the CHP Group, which makes various claims regarding the arbitration case between Turkey and Iraq, literally confuses the events, distorts the procedural processes, and creates a perception with mostly lies, slander and unreal statements. Especially, first of all, there are no confidential documents. The shared court documents are public documents submitted to the enforcement file in the USA. "Anyone who wishes can access these documents through the relevant systems," he said.
Mertoğlu said, "The arbitration panel rejected 4 of Iraq's 5 claims and accepted only 1. A significant part of Türkiye's counterclaim claims were accepted. The final balance of receivables and debts of the parties will become clear at the end of the ongoing enforcement process in the USA. Therefore, there is no final compensation decision as claimed. Although this claim has been denied many times, it is brought before us again and again like temcit pilaf in order to change their own agenda."
Mertoğlu also said, "The latest statements were made at a critical time when our Minister Alparslan Bayraktar was discussing new energy projects in Iraq and the amicable solution of the arbitration process... We will soon start oil exploration in Rize, in my hometown, off the coast of Çayeli."
CHP Group Deputy Chairman Gökhan Günaydın responded to the statements of AK Party members and said, "Let me tell you how he tried to explain that we were lying and slandering. 'You are lying and slandering.' He says: 'We didn't just lose this, we lost it in March 2023.' He says that wrong too, you lost it on February 13, 2023. How much did you lose? 1 billion 421 million dollars. Then he says: 'We appealed this to France. Four Iraqi claims were rejected in France, one was accepted.' Thank God it happened that way, who knows how much it would be if it were all there? So, what is the final receivable within this framework? "A fine of 70 billion liras was imposed on the country," he said.
Günaydın, "Then he says: 'So we took this to America for enforcement.' Which one is the lie that we say, which one is the slander that we say? "There is not a single thing you can say for three minutes to hide the truth," he said.
AK Party Group Deputy Chairman and Çankırı Deputy Muhammet Emin Akbaşoğlu said, "There is no compensation of 1.47 billion dollars as claimed; this is a blatant lie. The same lie has been repeated before and has been refuted many times. As a requirement of international law, the court process is currently continuing in the United States within the framework of the rules of international law. We, with the national defense industry, with the national defense industry that we have increased to over 80 percent, likewise with our national energy move." "With God's permission, we are becoming a country that everyone envies in terms of domestic and national energy production... Whether you want it or not, we will definitely realize a fully independent Türkiye in energy," he said.
İYİ Party Group Deputy Chairman and Antalya Deputy Uğur Poyraz stated that there is a trial process going on and said, "There is a decision made against Türkiye in this trial process. Our orator, Mr. Türkkan, expressed his concerns about this. 'Now, let's leave yesterday alone, if this trial process ends against Türkiye the day after tomorrow, it will have consequences for Turkey that we cannot handle. How can we solve these? At least an answer should be given to them.' he said. "Gabar came to us again, and this time also Çayeli came to us about gas," he said.
"Let a technical person come - not with an information note - what precautions should we take regarding this issue, what should we do? Let's talk about this. No precautions are being discussed regarding this. We say, we are concerned about this issue, how will we do this? 'Sir, don't worry, we will handle it.' he says. Well, you couldn't handle it. 'Come on from now on, let's at least solve it with common sense in the Parliament.' said our esteemed orator; There is no answer to that either."