Paris, France (KRP.org) – Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with French President François Hollande in Paris on Tuesday.

In their meeting at the Élysée Palace, President Hollande and President Barzani discussed the ongoing fight against ISIS terrorists and efforts to liberate the city of Mosul.

President Hollande welcomed President Barzani’s visit to Paris and reiterated his country’s support for the Kurdistan Region, in particular the peshmerga forces. He praised the role of the peshmerga in taking the fight to the ISIS terrorists. He said France would continue to provide military, humanitarian and political support to Kurdistan, and that it would also seek to gather support for Kurdistan among other European countries.

President Barzani thanked President Hollande for his continuous support and France’s aerial support for the peshmerga forces. He said President Hollande’s visit to Erbil in September was very important and showed that our people have great friends.

The two also discussed joint preparations underway by the peshmerga and the Iraqi army to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIS terrorists. They also discussed relations between Erbil and Baghdad and the recent meeting between President Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi in Munich last week. The underlined the importance of close cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad to address the challenges facing Iraq.

President Barzani also met with French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday in Paris to discuss the fight against ISIS and the military needs of the peshmerga forces.

The KRG Department of Foreign Relations strongly condemns the horrific shootings on the Charlie Hebdo Magazine office in Paris that claimed 12 lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrorist attack. We stand with the people of France and offer them the sympathy of the people of Kurdistan at this difficult time.

Such attacks can only strengthen our commitment to vigorously uphold and defend the values of freedom of speech and to continue the fight against terrorism. These kinds of attacks remind us of that members of the international community should stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight against terrorists who threaten the values of democracy, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence. The Kurdistan Peshmerga Forces are at the forefront of the fight against terrorism. The fight against extremism must continue relentlessly.

Once again, we express our condolences to the families of those killed in Paris.

Nazem Dabbagh the representative of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq in Tehran said: the news of Masood Barezani’s, the president of KRG, visit the commander of Monafeghin group in Paris is basically untrue.

A report of the Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) Nazem Dabbagh the representative of KRG in Tehran in a talk concerning the counterfeit news on a visit between Masoud Barzani and the commander of Monafeghin group in Paris broadcasted in some public medias said: this news is basically false, for such visit never occurred, in special, high-ranking authorities’ attitudes and beliefs of KRG of Iraq relating to this matter are apparent and clear.

And always they appreciate the place and role of Islamic Republic of Iran in cooperation with Kurds on their right fighting against Baath regime.

He, at the end, declared: the Islamic Republic of Iran has an outstanding role and place in forming the new Iraq and federal government, thus broadcasting such false news is considered in the direction of a plan to destroy the relations between Kurdistan regional Government and Kurdistan region.