On 23 May 2014, the Republic of Iraq (“Iraq”) commenced arbitral proceedings against the Republic of Turkey (“Turkey”). Those proceedings were commenced pursuant to an allegation that Turkey was in violation of the terms of an agreement that was signed in 1973 relating to the construction and use of oil pipelines. The arbitral tribunal (the “Tribunal”) rendered its final award on 13 February 2023 (the “Award”).
This commentary summarises the Award’s main contents, including the most important facts, the Parties’ arguments and the Tribunal’s reasoning and offers some analysis of the Award. The main elements of commentary concern the Tribunal’s award on the merits (and in particular its interpretation of the ITP Agreement), the Tribunal’s rationale for how damages should be calculated, the Tribunal’s damages award, and the Award’s likely impact. This commentary is not comprehensive and does not discuss all the elements and issues that are covered by the Award. The authors welcome comments and questions.
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Zaid Al-Ali
Zaid Al-Ali is the Senior Programme Manager in Constitution-Building in the Africa and West Asia region. He is the author of The Struggle for Iraq’s Future, published by Yale University Press (2014) and of Arab Constitutionalism: The Coming Revolution, published by Cambridge University Press (2021). In 2022, he oversaw a large project to evaluate the performance of Iraq’s 2005 Constitution, in cooperation with Rewaq Baghdad.
Ahmed Tabaqchali
Ahmed Tabaqchali is a non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs. He is an experienced capital markets professional with over 25 years’ experience in US and MENA markets, and the chief strategist at the AFC Iraq Fund. He is also a visiting fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre, and a senior fellow at the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS) at AUIS. He is a board member of Capital Investments, the investment banking arm of Capital Bank-Jordan.
