Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, (KRG.org) - The Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, yesterday received the US Senator, Pat Roberts.

Senator Roberts expressed his pleasure for visiting the Kurdistan Region, particularly as the visit coincides with the victories marked by Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces in Sinjar and its environs.

The Senator stressed that the Islamic State terrorist organisation, also known as ISIS, poses a threat to peace and stability and its barbaric acts make it an enemy of mankind and needs to be defeated and eradicated.

He also stressed the importance of the relations between the United States and the Kurdistan Region and further strengthening them, including through the increase of US aid to Kurdistan that would help to defeat terrorism.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed his gratitude for Senator Roberts views and stances, and briefed him on the latest political and military developments in the fight against ISIS and Peshmerga forces victories, particularly in the Mount Sinjar.

He also stressed that although the Peshmerga had made significant progress, they need heavy weaponry and more training in order to maintain the region secured. The Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude to the United States and the international coalition for their military support and air strikes, which helped Peshmerga forces to achieve these victories.

The Prime Minister also highlighted the conditions of the displaced people, particularly the Yezidis and Christians who fled to the Kurdistan Region, where the Kurdistan people and its government have provided them with as much assistance as possible as well as the provision of security.

He also stressed that the KRG will continue providing assistance to the internally displaced persons for as long as they stay in the Kurdistan Region. He stated that, however, there is no doubt that they are in dire need of greater assistance from the international community. 

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, (KRG.org) - The Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, received Federica Mogherini, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and her accompanying delegation at Erbil International Airport upon her arrival yesterday.

In a meeting between the two sides, Ms. Mogherini congratulated the people of Kurdistan and the Peshmerga forces for the victories they have achieved in Sinjar area.

She said that during her visit to Baghdad, she had also congratulated the Iraqi President and Iraqi Prime Minister on the occasion of these victories. She stated that the victories of the Peshmerga in Sinjar areas are important both for the moral of the Peshmerga forces and that of the international community.

Both sides discussed the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, also known as ISIS, and stressed that it poses a threat to humanity and that it is essential to confront it in all its forms.

Prime Minister Barzani pointed out that the fight against ISIS could not be achieved only by military means. It should also be tackled both intellectually and ideologically, he said.

The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the international coalition and its support, both humanitarian and military, provided to the Kurdistan Region. He also praised the vital role played by the coalition air force in supporting the Peshmerga forces.

Whilst the Prime Minister thanked Ms. Mogherini for European Union’s support, he asserted that the Peshmerga forces need further military assistance, particularly heavy weapons and military training.

In this regard, present at the meeting, the KRG Minister of Peshmerga Affairs, Mustafa Sayid Qadir highlighted the latest military developments in the war against ISIS and the needs and requirements of the Peshmerga forces.

Ms Mogherini emphasized that their efforts will continue to ensure that the Peshmerga are supported and assisted in all respects.

The Prime Minister also highlighted the plight of over 1.5 million displaced people and refugees, who fled ISIS violence and took refuge in Kurdistan Region. He called on the European Union to intensify its efforts to encourage members of the Union and the international community to be more active in regards to the plight of the displaced persons and their dire need for further assistance. He also called on the Federal Government of Iraq to provide further assistance in order to alleviate their suffering.

The two sides also discussed the recent agreement concluded early this month between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government of Iraq on oil export and budgetary issues, Kurdistan relations with its neighbours and the repercussions of the war on terrorism in the region.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, (KRG.org) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, on Sunday received Bert Koenders, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs and his accompanying delegation.

The two sides discussed the latest Peshmarga forces victories and advances in the town of Sinjar and its environs. The Dutch Minister, who visits Kurdistan Region for the first time, congratulated Prime Minister Barzani for these victories and reiterated his country’s humanitarian and military support for the Kurdistan Region.

He highlighted the Netherlands military activities in the fight against terrorism and the participation of his country’s air force at the international coalition against the Islamic State terrorist organization, also known as ISIS.

Bilateral relations between the Kurdistan Region and the Netherlands were another topic discussed in the meeting. The two sides expressed their willingness to develop these relations, particularly in the sectors of trade, agriculture and energy. They have also discussed the Dutch companies’ activities in the Region and ways to develop them.

Regional political and military developments were also discussed, including the breakthrough agreement, which was concluded earlier this month, between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government of Iraq, Kurdistan Region’s role in rebuilding post-2003 Iraq, Kurdistan Region’s relations with the neighboring countries, the Kurdish issue and the peace process in Turkey and Syrian crisis.

Joint Press Conference

In a press conference, held following the meeting, both sides shed light on the topics discussed and answered questions from the press.  

Prime Minister Barzani praised the role of the Netherlands, which is currently involved, as part of the international coalition, in the fight against ISIS and provides assistance to the Peshmerga forces.

He also recalled Netherland’s role in protecting the Kurdistan Region against the repression inflicted by Saddam Hussein’s forces in 1991, which caused a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Kurds.

Prime Minister Barzani said, “We have discussed a range of topics in our meeting, including training of Peshmarga forces, providing humanitarian aid to the Kurdistan Region to assist the internally displaced and refugees and the Netherlands participation in the development of Kurdistan Region’s economy.”

The Dutch Foreign Minister reiterated that his country will continue its support to the Kurdistan Region, particularly in the field of energy and agriculture.

In the military domain, he pointed out that his country plans to send 100 military experts and trainers to Iraq.

He also commended the Kurdistan people and its government for providing assistance and sheltering such large number of internally displaced and refugees, fleeing ISIS repression in both Iraq and Syria.

The Dutch Foreign Minister welcomed the recent agreement between Erbil and Baghdad describing it as a catalyst for resolving other outstanding issues.

He expressed his country's willingness to participate in the Kurdistan Region’s development.

Sinjar Operations

With regards to the victories marked by Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces in Sinjar and its environs in the past few days, the Prime Minister congratulated the Peshmerga forces and expressed his gratitude.

He said, “They have performed their tough duty courageously. As you know that these operations were led under the direct command of Kurdistan Region’s President, Masoud Barzani, who has been monitoring the situation and personally directing the operations in all the positions … Sinjar is very important for us, particularly for President Barzani, which is why he personally participated in these operations.”

He added, “We have liberated large territories, and despite the fact that the entire town of Sinjar is not yet totally freed, there is a remarkable progress and we hope, God willing, to hear good news soon … It is to underline that the Peshmerga forces have marked one of their great victories.”

Ankara, Turkey, (KRG.org) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, in his new presidential palace, Aksaray, on Friday.

The two sides discussed the situation in Iraq and the region, the latest developments in the war against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, known as ISIS, and the recent advances marked by the Peshmerga forces in Sinjar and Zummar frontline.

The Turkish President expressed his satisfaction with the recent victories by the Peshmerga forces.

The agreement, which was reached early December between Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government of Iraq, was another topic discussed in the meeting.

President Erdogan lauded both sides for the breakthrough agreement for which he expressed his support. He wished the agreement could pave the way to resolve the rest of the outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad.

Prime Minister Barzani and President Erdogan also discussed bilateral relations between Erbil and Ankara. They emphasised on developing and broadening these relations, particularly in domains that are of interest for both sides.

Istanbul, Turkey, (KRG.org) - Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, today received Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, in Istanbul.

The two sides discussed the breakthrough agreement, reached earlier this month between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government of Iraq. Mr. Davutoğlu praised both Erbil and Baghdad for reaching agreement, hoping that it would lead to resolving other outstanding issues between the two sides.

Regional political and military developments, the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, known as ISIS, and the recent Peshmerga forces advances in Zummar and areas around Sinjar were topics also discussed in the meeting.

The two sides also highlighted bilateral relations and stressed on further developing these ties and agreed to continue exchanging visits and meetings between both sides.  

Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani is due to meet the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later this afternoon.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, (KRG.org) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, on Thursday met the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Iraq and Head of UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, UNAMI, Nickolay Mladenov.

A number of key issues were discussed in the meeting, including the plight of internally displaced people and refugees who have taken refuge in the Kurdistan Region. Kurdistan Regional Government’s role in accommodating and assisting them, particularly during the current cold weather, was also stressed in the meeting.

The two sides agreed that given KRG’s limited resources, the Iraqi federal government and the international community have to, urgently play a larger role in helping the displaced and refugees, and that the UN is to urge and encourage the international community to take serious steps in this issue.

Mladenov expressed his satisfaction regarding the recent agreement reached between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government of Iraq on oil export and budgetary issues, and reiterated the United Nations readiness to support this agreement and assist in resolving all the outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed his hope that this agreement will pave the way to resolving all the issues with Baghdad, adding that it could be regarded as a catalyst for a comprehensive settlement that would be in the interest of all Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

The military situation, the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organization, known as ISIS, and the formation of an Iraqi national guard were topics also discussed in the meeting.

The two sides highlighted the necessity for national reconciliation in Iraq and expressed their hope that the various Iraqi parties will deal with the entire situation in a national spirit.

Baghdad, Iraq, (KRG.org) - Within three days of arrival in Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government delegation headed by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, concluded an agreement with the Federal Government of Iraq. Prior to leaving Baghdad, back to Erbil yesterday, Prime Minister Barzani spoke with the media about the meetings and results of the negotiations.

The KRG Prime Minister highlighted the meetings of the past two days, saying, “During the past two days we have been here in Baghdad in order to address issues between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad.  We conducted several meetings with the Iraqi Prime Minister, the Oil Minister, and other ministers. Different teams focused on different negotiations. We completed our visit today.”

Speaking about the conduct and atmosphere at the meetings the Prime Minister said, “I would like to say the meetings were generally positive. We saw a real desire by the Iraqi Prime Minister, the Iraqi Oil Minister, and all other ministers in Prime Minister Abadi’s government to resolve important issues with the Kurdistan Region. I want to emphasize and reiterate that our preference from day one was to resolve all issues through dialogue.  We preferred this option and believe it is the best option.”

Regarding the agreements, Prime Minister Barzani said, “After the former Iraqi Prime Minister unilaterally cut the share of the Kurdistan Region from the Iraqi budget we have attempted to resolve the issue through dialogue.  Fortunately, we reached an agreement with Prime Minister Abadi and his team on a number of issues.  We believe the agreement is transparent and serves the interests of both the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad. Both sides came out of these negotiations successfully."

Regarding the details of the meetings, the Prime Minister said, “The agreement is as follows: The KRG will deliver 250,000 barrels of oil per day from oilfields in the Kurdistan Region to Baghdad, and we will assist them in exporting Kirkuk oil. In turn, the Federal Government of Iraq will provide the Kurdistan Region 17 percent share of the federal budget. We emphasized that the amount received in the past was never 17 percent, it was always less.” 

On the issue of the Peshmerga forces dues which was one of the main unresolved issues, Prime Minister Barzani said, “Prime Minister Abadi offered his respect and gratitude to the Peshmerga forces, especially in the struggle and sacrifices they have been making on the battlefield fighting against ISIS terrorism. Baghdad agreed to allocate 1 trillion 200 billion Iraqi Dinars for the Peshmerga.”

Prime Minister Barzani explained details of the agreement, saying, “The current agreement is not the final agreement, but we believe it to be a good start. There are other issues we should discuss in the coming period and we hope to reach agreement on them, too. This is a good start for both sides and, hopefully, we will resolve all outstanding problems and obstacles within a period of six months or so.

“I can say that, in general, we are pleased with this agreement and consider it a gain for all parties. Given the problems between Erbil and Baghdad, we can say we have come a long way.  What we have seen this time in Baghdad is a desire by the Iraqi Prime Minister to tackle these problems. This encourages us to move forward faster. As I said, our priority is to address and resolve our problems with Baghdad.”

Regarding external pressure, particularly from the United States and other parties on the KRG delegation to reach agreement with Baghdad, the Prime Minister said, “There was no pressure on us.  What we have achieved was through the desire of both Baghdad and Erbil to reach a mutually satisfying agreement. The United States, United Kingdom, and the United Nations role is to encourage both sides to negotiate to reach an agreement. They did not interfere in the negotiations and did not exert any pressure, even in the organization of the meetings. As you know, Iraqi Oil Minister Dr. Adil Abdul Mehdi visited Erbil recently and met with Deputy Prime Minister Mr Qubad Talabani and I.  We agreed then to visit Baghdad to begin these talks.”

Regarding the amount allocated by the Iraqi Government for the Peshmerga forces, whether it was taken from the Kurdistan Region’s portion of the federal budget, Prime Minister Barzani said, “The amount agreed for the Peshmerga forces will be from outside the Kurdistan Region’s share of the budget, meaning it will not be from the 17 percent allocated to the Kurdistan Region. They agreed the Peshmerga forces are part of the Iraqi defense system. This agreement is very important because after 11 years of negotiations Baghdad agreed to the proposal to allocate a portion of the national defense budget to the Peshmerga forces.”

In response to a question, KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani emphasized, "the agreement reached between the Federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government works in favor of all sides and I believe that everybody will support this agreement."

Prime Minister Barzani thanked the civil servants, businessmen, and contractors in the Kurdistan Region for their patience with salary and payment delays. He said, "We have already received a payment and are receiving another one.  We hope to overcome the issue of public service salaries by January."   

Regarding exporting oil from Kirkuk oilfields through the Kurdistan Region’s pipeline, the KRG Prime Minister explained that, practically speaking, Kirkuk oil can flow only through the Kurdistan Region’s pipeline. "We have agreed to export 300 thousand barrels per day. The technical process may start this week."

Prime Minister Barzani also noted, "the process of exporting Kirkuk oil through the Region’s pipeline is in the interest of both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. He said the Region would not charge the Iraqi federal government for the export. The Region works within the framework of the Constitution of federal Iraq. This gives the Kurdistan Region opportunity to coordinate approaches to oil export and solve issues without stress." 

Regarding the oil exported by the Kurdistan Region independently, the Prime Minister said, “We continue to export oil that we have, but we will first use it to meet the Region’s domestic fuel requirements. We will export the rest after meeting domestic demand."     

Regarding the agreement between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad, Prime Minister Barzani explained, "The budget law is for one year. When we came from Erbil we knew that we will not resolve all issues in a meeting or two. We thought our visit called for a strategy to resolve the issues.  We have now set the strategy. The agreement we have now concluded will open the door to settle all issues within six months to a year.

“What is important is that we managed to implement two important things. First, the sanctions imposed in Iraq’s general budget law on the Kurdistan Region’s share of the national budget have been removed. Second, we have reached agreement on oil export, the Kurdistan Region’s budget, and the Peshmerga forces’ budget.

"The other issues are article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, incentives for Peshmerga forces, and other outstanding issues for which a period of time will be decided for their settlement. There will be talks also about what is owed to the Kurdistan Region from the 2014 budget, which is 16 trillion Iraqi dinars, as determined by the Iraq Ministry of Finance. All these issues cannot be solved in one meeting, more meetings are needed."

While emphasizing that all differences cannot be solved in one visit or meeting, Prime Minister Barzani reiterated that the agreement concluded with Baghdad paves the way for resolving the issues within six months to one year.

Regarding project loans and mortgages for citizens, Prime Minister Barzani reiterated his government’s commitment to continue support for loans and mortgages.

Regarding guarantees the Iraqi Government will not cut the Kurdistan Region’s share of the national budget again, the Prime Minister explained, "There are no guarantees that the Iraqi government will not cut the Kurdistan Region’s share of the budget. We should not forget, however, that if they cut our share, we hold a key to their oil export. We do not, however, wish to talk in such language, we hope this language is over. We wish to open a new page and avoid using the language of threats."

Regarding Peshmerga forces participating with the Iraqi army in liberating ISIS-controlled territory, the Prime Minister explained, "The Peshmerga forces are now fighting on a 1,100 kilometer-long frontline. Iraq’s Prime Minister lauded their efforts. In fighting a global terrorist organization, what the Peshmerga forces are achieving is most significant and serves the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and the whole world." 

Regarding the Iraqi government’s commitment to implementing the agreement, the Prime Minister said, "the agreement has been approved by the Iraqi Council of Ministers and it has become a decree. The Iraqi government has expressed its support to the agreement. On our part we are implementing the agreement. In Baghdad, we observed willingness. We would like to take every opportunity to reach a solution that serves both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. However, to what extent it will actually be implemented, we will have to see that later."

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, (KRG.org) – Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, on Monday received Mr. Georg Enzweiler, on the occasion of his appointment as Germany’s new Consul General to the Kurdistan Region. 

Mr. Enzweiler expressed his pleasure to be appointed as his country’s Consul General to Kurdistan Region and hoped to further develop bilateral relations between Germany and the Kurdistan Region. He lauded the Kurdistan government, people and Peshmerga forces for their fight against terrorism and accommodating a large number of internally displaced people and refugees, who fled terrorist violence in other parts of Iraq and took refuge in Kurdistan Region.

Mr. Enzweiler reiterated his country’s humanitarian and military support to the Kurdistan Regional Government. The Consul General also reaffirmed his country’s determination to further strengthen the political and economic ties with the Kurdistan Region. He added that, many German companies have actively participated in the Erbil international trade fair, which was held last week in Erbil, saying that Germany will continue to encourage its companies to work in the Kurdistan Region.

Prime Minister Barzani congratulated Mr. Enzweiler for his appointment and reiterated the KRG’s support for the success of the German mission in Kurdistan Region. The Prime Minister valued the humanitarian and military support provided by the German government and hoped that this support will continue in future.

The relation between Erbil and Baghdad, the current political and military situation and the threat of the Islamic State terrorist organization, known as ISIS, on regional security and stability were also among the topics discussed in the meeting.
The Consul General welcomed the breakthrough agreement reached earlier this month between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government of Iraq and hoped for a successful outcome.  

Both sides agreed on further developing the collaboration and coordination between the Kurdistan Region and Germany, stressing the historical relations between the two peoples.