Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani chaired a joint meeting of the leaders of Kurdistan Region’s five main political parties and the KRG oil and gas council, which included the KRG Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister as well as KRG Ministers of Natural Resources and Planning.

The meeting focused on the problems facing the Kurdistan Region, particularly the fight against ISIS terrorists, and the recently-signed Erbil-Baghdad deal on oil sales and budget share of the KRG.

At the outset of the meeting, President Barzani talked about the result of his meetings with world leaders during his participation at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. He said the whole world views the Kurdistan Region and its peshmerga forces with great admiration for standing up to the ISIS terrorists and for taking in large numbers of IDPs from other parts of Iraq.

The participants of today’s meeting issued a statement in which they paid tribute to the bravery and sacrifices of the peshmerga. They also underlined the importance of preserving Kurdish unity in the face of the current challenges facing the Region.

On the deal between Erbil and Baghdad, their statement said, “The people of Kurdistan and the regional government consider it their legitimate right, per Iraqi Constitution Articles 112 and 115 and per the 2015 Iraqi budget law, to pursue exploration and export of oil from Kurdistan. Only this will fundamentally solve the budget and payroll issues facing the people of Kurdistan. The KRG remains committed to all sections of the deal signed between Erbil and Baghdad. Baghdad must equally be committed to all section of this deal. Any technical problems can be addressed through dialogue. ”

The meeting expressed its support of the KRG and expressed its hope that the KRG would be able to resolve the budget and payroll problems.