Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey's state-run oil firm has struck an agreement with U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) to develop joint projects in Kurdish-administered northern Iraq, the country's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.Mr. Erdogan also said that Turkey can pursue separate arrangements with the Erbil-based Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG."Countries from various parts of the world are taking steps to explore and produce oil in different parts of Iraq, and then deliver it to world oil markets. There's nothing more normal, more natural than Turkey, which provides all kinds of support and aid to its next-door neighbor, to take a step that is based on mutual benefit," Mr. Erdogan said.The prime minister's statements, just before leaving for the U.S. to meet with President Barack Obama, contrast sharply with a carefully-honed policy in Ankara. Turkish officials have consistently called for the territorial integrity of Iraq and reiterated that they won't pursue any deals that would ...

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