Turkish company halts power supply to ISIL-controlled Mosul

ISTANBUL Merve Erdil

Karadeniz Holding, the parent company of the Kartet energy company that was supplying around 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity a year, said it had been pumping power to Mosul and neighboring towns until two weeks ago.

Karadeniz Holding, a Turkish energy company that supplies power to the Iraqi city of Mosul, seized by Islamist jihadist militants, announced it suspended electricity exports to Iraq two weeks ago as their contract ended.

Additionally, the government has said it has no plans to prevent the company from supplying power to the region.

The second largest city of Iraq has been hit by several power outages since militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the province.

Karadeniz Holding, the parent company of the Kartet energy company that was supplying around 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity a year, said it had been pumping power to Mosul and neighboring towns until two weeks ago.

The company said it suspended the procurement as the contract, which is renewed every year, with the Iraqi authorities has expired, but stated negotiations for a new contract are ongoing between the parties.

Kartet had been exporting the electricity it produces at a power plant in the Silop district of the eastern province of Şırnak to Iraq since 2003.

“The electricity handed to Iraq national power network is split between Reshidiya, Zakho, Duhok and Mosul regions. Electricity exports were halted in June as the export agreement and license, which is renewed every year, terminated,” the company said in a statement.

Energy Ministry authorities, meanwhile, said the government has no plans to cut the electricity supply to ISIL-controlled Mosul, stressing the government does not have a negative perspective regarding the issue.

“The power goes to households, even if the households receiving the power are under the control of ISIL,” a ministry official has said.