“I was very pleased for the first time to receive Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region. It’s a big honour for us as French people who have respect for the Kurdish people, for their fight against terrorists, and opening their doors to refugees. The Kurds are peaceful, and we offer our support to them,” Hidalgo said speaking with the press with Barzani after their meeting.
“It’s an honor that the President of the Kurdistan Region is our guest today. We support the Kurds in all aspects and are always ready to support them. This is President Barzani’s house. The door is always open for him to visit,” she added.
The mayor said that Paris and Erbil have good relations, which they want to expand.
“We have relations with Erbil. When I visited Erbil, I met with the governor and he visited Paris as well. Our relations exist in all areas, especially cultural and in the preservation of historical sites in Erbil. In other areas as well, we are working in order to build even stronger relations between Erbil and Paris in the future.
Barzani thanked Hidalgo for her warm welcome and compared her to Danielle Mitterrand.
“I want to thank her a lot for warm welcome and receiving us at the mayor’s office in Paris. I thank her again for her visit to Kurdistan. We had a friendly conversation about how there will be collaboration between Erbil and Paris, between the Kurdish people and France We as the Kurdish people were saddened when we lost a merciful mother like Danielle Mitterrand, but Ms. Anne replaced her for the Kurds.”
Mitterrand, former first lady of France, is known in Kurdistan as the Mother of Kurds. After witnessing the suffering of Kurdish refugees fleeing Saddam Hussein’s regime in 1991, she campaigned for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. The no-fly zone allowed the Kurdistan Region the security to develop the self-autonomy it now enjoys.
Responding to journalists questions about his meeting with the French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian earlier in the day, Barzani said they had discussed military and security issues.
They discussed French support for the Peshmerga and plans to provide the Kurdish forces with advanced weapons and ammunition, as well as sending more advisers and trainers. They also discussed France’s support for the operation to retake Mosul, Ala Shali, Rudaw’s correspondent in Paris, reported.
Barzani arrived in Paris on Wednesday for a two-day visit on the official invitation of François Hollande, President of the Republic of France.
On Thursday, Barzani is scheduled to meet with Hollande.
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