The Kurdish SDF and the sale of Syrian oil to Turkey – Otralectura

The fall of the territory controlled by the Islamic State in Syria was the beginning of a series of minor conflicts in the region for the control of the same and its resources. One of the groups that fought for control of this area is the SDF: a mostly Kurdish militia, an ally of the United States that helped Washington develop operations on the ground.

The area controlled by the SDF, located to the east and north of the country, is governed by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) the name of the administration of this militia, which has generated a great destabilization in the region to all levels, mainly due to the control of the oil fields of eastern Syria. Because of this the SDF has become the only militia that controls the Syrian oil fields and trades with them independently.

In fact Turkey, which considers the SDF a terrorist group, is buying cheap oil extracted in the territories controlled by the AANES and this is not all; The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, which does not control these territories, has had to send private mediators to be able to buy that oil (which is legally theirs) from the Kurds in order to satisfy internal demand, without counting on the fact that, at the same time Over time, the SDF sold oil to other Syrian armed opposition groups and has expanded its business to northern Iraq by selling oil to Iraqi Kurdistan through the Barzani clan.

According to sources in the field, the SDF exports 50% of its oil to Iraqi Kudistan, 20% goes for its internal needs, the remaining 20% ​​for foreign trade and 10% goes to reserve funds.

However, although all the militias have smuggled oil, in this case there are two differences: no group had a total monopoly on production, not even DAESH, and secondly Turkey never did business with Kurdish armed groups; However, in this case Ankara has turned to this especially juicy business using the members of the Barzani clan in Iraq as intermediaries.

The structure, however, is complicated as Turkey has been conducting constant military operations against the Kurds in northern Syria and especially against the SDF since 2016. Neither Turkey nor the SDF can openly collaborate because the SDF is inside. from the list of terrorist groups in Syria and, on the other hand, the SDF would be collaborating with the enemy in case of having official trade with Turkey.

Because of this the trading structure would be as follows: SDF sells oil to the Barzani of Iraq who, through their corporate structure and shell companies, would resell oil to the Turks in exchange for a commission.

This particularly beneficial but totally secret agreement has been carried out through an agreement between agents of the Turkish government, the Barzani family and Mazloum Abdi, leader of the SDF.

This agreement, which might seem impossible, reveals once again that the geopolitical needs in armed conflicts are sometimes much deeper than mere fighting, especially when the vision of Realpolitik and fait accompli is imposed and that is who alone sit on the resources you can negotiate with them. (Photo: Wikimedia)

By Koldo Salazar López