Ghalib Mohammad Ali said in an interview with Al-Maloumeh news agency that "the purpose of Turkish military operations and attacks on areas in the Kurdistan region is to occupy some Iraqi lands to control the gas fields in these areas."

Stating that the Kurdistan region has 5.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, with Sulaimani having 95% of these reserves, Mohammad Ali added: "natural gas reserves are in six the fields of Chamchamal, Niran, Kordnil, Hasireh and Cormo, and now investors in these gas fields are only operating in the Cormo field."

Noting that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emphasized his country was dependent on gas resources in the Kurdistan Region, he added: "the remarks has been made at a time that the recent Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani's trips to Turkey, Qatar and other states have been in line with making political and economic agreements with Turkey, the UAE, Qatar, and Israel to control gas resources in the Middle East."

Reporter's code: 50101