WASHINGTON DC, US-- A high-level Kurdish delegation arrived in the US capital Friday in an effort to clarify the current Kurdish position on the ongoing developments in the region as the war against ISIS continues in several areas in the country and its neighboring Syria.
The delegation headed by Kurdistan Region’s Security Council chief Masrour Barzani, also seeks to assess the incoming administration's policies in regard to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Aides to the delegation told Rudaw the Kurdish team will hold meetings with leading US think-tanks and political analysts close to the new administration to exchange views about the new realities and the state of affairs in Iraq where Kurds have gained unprecedented influence after ISIS withdrawal from Kurdish territories.
Around 1,600 Peshmerga soldiers have been killed and another 10,000 wounded during the past two years of bloody clashes with ISIS militants across southern and western borders on Kurdistan Region.
The Peshmerga forces have taken the lead in patrolling vast areas outside Kurdistan Region since mid-2014 after Iraqi army's retreat from the disputed territories.
Kurdish President Masoud Barzani has said that Peshmerga troops have no plans to withdraw from areas that the Kurdish forces retook from ISIS prior to October 17, when the operation to liberate Mosul began.
Kurdish leaders have largely been optimistic about President-elect Donald Trump's strategies for the Middle East and the Kurdish question hoping for stronger US support.
Trump has shown strong support for Kurdish Peshmerga forces and at times called them greatest allies of the US.
"During the campaign trail, Mr Trump made positive remarks about the Kurds and Kurdistan. And the people around him have also very positive view about the Kurds and Kurdistan which is why we view his term in office with confidence," said President Barzani in a recent interview with the BBC Persian Service.
