ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, a day ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Warsaw Summit, that the international community and Germany support the Kurdish Peshmerga and called for increased assistance to Iraq in the fight against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS). "Germany and other countries should continue their assistance to the Peshmerga forces in the fight against ISIS," said Merkel, speaking to the German parliament ahead of the NATO summit that is scheduled to take place in Poland on Friday and Saturday. She also urged NATO to maintain its support and assistance to Iraq amid the destruction caused by the war against terror. "NATO's assistance to protect Iraq should be ongoing," Merkel said. Merkel added that "The terror and violent groups pose serious threats to the world in general, Iraq and Syria in particular." "Iraq and Syria have been devastated by war and the threats finally reached Paris, Brussels, Ankara, and Istanbul,” she explained. “Therefore the world should be one and cooperate in combating terror in the region." Germany has been at the forefront of arming Iraq’s Kurds in the war against ISIS that has raged since 2014. Although Germany is not directly participating in the US-led coalition airstrikes against ISIS, it is among the countries arming the Kurdistan Region directly, providing military supplies and training. About 80 German soldiers are stationed in the Kurdistan Region to train the Peshmerga forces. Germany is one of the few countries supplying the Kurdish troops directly through Erbil and not through the Iraqi central government in Bagdad. Some 4,700 Peshmerga have been trained by German trainers. The first plane carrying high-tech German weapons arrived in Erbil on September 25, 2014, following the German Defense Minister Von der Leyen’s first visit. That shipment was followed by many other weapons and equipment for the Peshmerga. The NATO summit, which will be one of the most critical high-level platforms for a discussion of the latest issues in Syria and global terrorism, will also address an emboldened Russia, who NATO nations believe is returning to a Cold War-style defense. In other counter-terrorism developments and efforts being made by superpower countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama discussed the Syrian war in a phone call on Wednesday. The Kremlin said both leaders confirmed they were ready to increase coordination of military action in Syria. The United States had, in the recent past, declined Russian overtures to work together to combat terrorist groups in the beleaguered country. The White House said Obama called on Russia to force Damascus to halt attacks on civilians and to be open to a transition of power. Relations between Russia and the United States have been strained over the conflict in Syria as Russia is backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the United States is supporting rebel groups opposed to the Assad regime. According to a statement issued by the Kremlin, Putin called on Obama to separate the moderate opposition in Syria from the extremist groups like the Nusra Front. "President Obama also stressed the necessity for progress on a genuine political transition to end the conflict in Syria, as well as sustained humanitarian access," said a statement issued by the White House statement after the leaders’ conversation.
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