ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Upon the conclusion of France's mission in the Kurdistan Region, Yann Braem, the outgoing French Consul General in Erbil, reaffirmed Paris' enduring commitment to the region and maintained that the partnership first forged in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) now extends to helping the Kurdistan Region prepare for future disasters through stronger emergency response and crisis management.
Speaking to Rudaw’s Vazhin Murad on Tuesday, the French diplomat said one of the defining achievements of his tenure includes the completion of a two-year European Union-funded project to strengthen the Kurdistan Region's Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC) and Civil Defense.
"We have been doing with Expertise France, with funding from the European Union, a project designated to enhance the capacities of JCC and Civil Defense to tackle disasters," he said, "especially in two areas: urban fires ... and also on water rescue."
France has remained one of the Kurdistan Region's closest international partners for more than a decade, providing military training, humanitarian assistance, and political support, as well as playing a key role in the US-led coalition's campaign against ISIS alongside the Kurdish Peshmerga.
Relations have since expanded to include cooperation on governance, join-cultural initiatives and strengthening the Kurdistan Region's civil institutions.
The EU-funded project, implemented by Expertise France, aimed to improve disaster preparedness across all four provinces of the Kurdistan Region by enhancing firefighting capabilities, flood rescue operations, crisis management planning, and psychological support for victims.
The consul general said firefighters were equipped with "the first in Iraq, first of its kind, very powerful and efficient tool to train themselves in closed environments where they have to fight the fires."
He added that water rescue teams trained in both France and the Kurdistan Region had already improved their techniques "in order to save more people."
The project also focused on preparing local communities for increasingly frequent natural disasters linked to climate change.
"In terms of planning, it is also very important to train people, to educate also the local communities: how to prepare themselves in case there is a catastrophe, especially since with the global warming, the number of dramatic events will increase," he said.
The diplomat said France's support for the Kurdistan Region has evolved beyond military cooperation, while remaining rooted in the same commitment to the Region's security.
"In a way, we have been fighting together against Daesh. We have been struggling from a political perspective to make sure that we were really appeasing the tensions in the region," he said. "It's another way of working on security. It's another way to come to the rescue to people in need."
He described the initiative as "one of the flagship initiatives" of his post which was began shortly after his arrival in 2021 and concluded just two days before his departure.
In his farewell message, the diplomat thanked the Kurdish people for the hospitality they had shown him throughout his posting.
"A big thank you. A big thank you for the warm welcome in every house, every office where I have been, from Zakho to Halabja," he said.
He also praised the Kurdistan Region's economic progress and its young generation, congratulating “what has been achieved here in terms of economic development, in terms of vibrant youth willing to be open to the world, willing to travel everywhere."
The consul general also thanked the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and local authorities for facilitating the work of the French consulate.
"I have always found open doors and very warm welcome, and very strong encouragement to the development of our relations," he said, adding that the close ties stretched "from the political level between our presidents to the day-to-day contacts with people that I met in shops or in the street."
Although his diplomatic mission has ended, he said his relationship with the Kurdistan Region would continue.
"I'm pretty sure I will come back to Kurdistan to see… so many friends that I have met here," he said.
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