BRUSSELS, Belgium- The President of the Kurdistan Region and a high-level referendum council have arrived in Brussels on Monday.
This is the first diplomatic foreign trip of the Referendum Council.
According to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency, the Kurdish delegation will meet with the Foreign Relations Committee of the European Parliament and some officials from Belgium.
Barzani's accompanying delegation consists of Kirkuk governor Najmadin Karim; Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) representative Hoshyar Zebari; Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) representative Mohammed Hawdiyani; along with Falah Mustafa, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Department of Foreign Relations.
Among the delegations also are Mohammed Saaddadin, a Turkmen representative, along with Wahid Hurmuz, a Christian representative, and Sheikh Shamo, a representative for Yezidi Kurds.
As per the delegation's agenda, they are scheduled to meet with the EU's high-ranking officials.
The Kurdistan Region has announced its plans on September 25 to hold a referendum on independence.
Correction: an earlier version of the story misidentified Najmadin Karim as the PUK representative in the referendum council. While he is a senior PUK member, the PUK maintains that he does not represent the party, and that he is in the council in his capacity as the Kirkuk governor. The PUK has so far refused to appoint their representative to the council unless the now-paralyzed Kurdish parliament reactivated.
