WASHINGTON DC – Security and political challenges facing Kurdistan as well as US assistance to Erbil were the focus of talks at a Washington meeting Tuesday with Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, the White House said in a statement.
The leaders discussed a range of issues, including the campaign to degrade and ultimately destroy Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and the status of ongoing political initiatives to address the needs of the Iraqi people and foster cooperation across all communities in the war-torn country, said a statement released after the talks.
It added that Obama and Biden emphasized the territorial integrity of Iraq. Kurdish officials told Rudaw earlier this week that the Kurdish delegation wanted to understand the US view about the future of Kurdistan and Iraq.
“President Obama and Vice President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ strong and continued support to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the Kurdish people. They also reaffirmed the United States’ enduring commitment under the Strategic Framework Agreement to a united, federal, and democratic Iraq, as defined in the Iraqi constitution,” the White House said.
Obama and Biden also praised the bravery of the Kurdish forces in countering ISIS.
“President Barzani thanked President Obama and Vice President Biden for the significant military support that the United States has provided to Kurdish Peshmerga in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Security Forces, including the military action taken to protect Erbil and other parts of Iraqi Kurdistan following the fall of Mosul,” the White House said.
Obama took part in the first 30 minutes of the meeting with the Kurdish delegation, which continued for another hour with Biden.
Barzani walked away from the White House without speaking to the press. According to Kurdish officials, the talks lasted longer than expected and the Kurdish president was already late by half an hour for his next meeting at the US Chamber of Commerce.
There, he addressed guests about countering ISIS, the flood of war refugees sheltering in Kurdistan and the openness of the Kurdish enclave for investment.
Barzani, on his first visit to Washington in nearly three years, is leading a senior Kurdish delegation on a week- long visit. He is due to meet with Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and other senior officials at the State Department in the coming days.
