Baghdad plans to reduce imports of cooking oil from Turkey due to political tensions, Reuters reported. The imports will be gradually cut, according to a trade ministry spokesman. The Iraqi government supplies the cooking oil for free to the population under a food rationing program. “The plan is to replace Turkish oil with locally produced oil and oil from other countries,” the spokesman said, without indicating the reason for the change of suppliers. The measure was meant as a protest against the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, the Baghdad-based newspaper al-Bayina al-Jadida wrote.
