ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Erbil early on Sunday morning in his first visit to the Kurdistan Region capital.
Macron and his delegation, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian, were greeted at Erbil International Airport by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani.
“I look forward to discuss bilateral ties, Iraqi elections and other pressing issues with President Macron. I remain grateful for France’s continued support to the Kurdistan Region and Iraq,” Barzani tweeted.
Barzani previously met with Macron in March on a visit to Paris.
The French president was in Baghdad on Saturday to attend a regional summit bringing together nine Middle Eastern countries, hosted by Iraq with the help of France. He also met with representatives of different religious communities, visiting the Shiite al-Kadhimiya mosque, and meeting with Nobel Peace laureate and Yazidi survivor Nadia Murad.
Macron will also go to Mosul on Sunday morning, where he will visit al-Nuri mosque. Dating back hundreds of years, the mosque was famously used by Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to announce his caliphate. Macron will then meet with a group of students from Mosul University. The French president will also visit Our Lady of the Hour Church, where he will meet with Christian figures from the city.
Returning to Erbil in the afternoon, Macron is expected to meet again with President Barzani and hold a press conference, before meeting with Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani and the family of Hujam Surchi, a Peshmerga who was killed by ISIS in 2015.
