Home > Current Affairs News > CHP's Deniz Yavuzyılmaz: Arbitration case lost in Paris, paving the way for a $1.471 billion penalty

CHP's Deniz Yavuzyılmaz: Arbitration case lost in Paris, paving the way for a $1.471 billion penalty

CHP Deputy Chairman Deniz Yavuzyılmaz has claimed that the case filed at the Paris Court of Appeal to annul the $1.471 billion compensation ruling issued by the International Court of Arbitration regarding the Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline has been rejected. Yavuzyılmaz alleged that the court decision, which he claims to have obtained, has initiated the process for the collection of the arbitration penalty.

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CHP Deputy Chairman Deniz Yavuzyılmaz made striking allegations on his social media account regarding the international arbitration process Turkey has faced due to the Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline.

Yavuzyılmaz claimed that they have determined through official documents they obtained that the case filed at the Paris Court of Appeal to annul the $1.471 billion compensation ruling issued against Turkey by the International Court of Arbitration has been rejected. In his post, Yavuzyılmaz stated that the decision is based on a March 10, 2026, ruling by the Paris Court of Appeal, and he shared both the original French court document and its Turkish translation with the public.

Following the decision, CHP's Yavuzyılmaz stated that "the countdown has begun for the payment of the $1.471 billion arbitration penalty."

Background of the Process

The legal dispute that has been ongoing for many years between Iraq and Turkey is rooted in the crude oil transported via the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq.

The Iraqi Central Government filed for international arbitration in 2014, alleging that Turkey violated the 1973 Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement by transporting oil from the Kurdistan Regional Government to world markets via the Ceyhan Terminal without Baghdad's approval.

At the end of a nearly nine-year trial, the International Court of Arbitration ruled on February 13, 2023, that Turkey must pay a net $1.471 billion in compensation to Iraq on the grounds that it allowed oil shipments without the approval of the Iraqi Central Government between May 21, 2014, and September 30, 2018.

Following the ruling, oil flow was halted, and long-term negotiations were held to establish a new basis for an agreement between Turkey and Iraq. During the same period, Ankara announced that it had filed an annulment case at the Paris Court of Appeal, arguing that the arbitration ruling was unlawful.

Yavuzyılmaz: "The Annulment Case Was Rejected"

In his statement, Deniz Yavuzyılmaz claimed that the Paris Court of Appeal had rejected the annulment case filed by Turkey, arguing that this makes the arbitration ruling legally binding.

The CHP official stated that the compensation in question should not be collected from public funds, but rather "from the assets of the responsible AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the relevant AKP executives."

Previous Statements by the Government

Following the announcement of the arbitration ruling, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and BOTAŞ had stated that the decision also contained results in Turkey's favor and that, based on calculations, the net amount to be paid was lower than the figures mentioned in initial reports. Ankara also announced that it would exercise its legal right to object to certain parts of the ruling and that an annulment case had been filed in France within this scope.

As of the moment this news was published, no new official statement has been made by the government or relevant institutions regarding the Paris Court of Appeal's decision.