ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday said his meetings in Baghdad discussed the upcoming visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to Washington as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Iraq.
“We discussed the topics of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, and the trip of the [Iraqi] prime minister to the US in the meetings,” President Barzani told reporters following a meeting with the Iraqi president.
Sudani will travel to the United States for a meeting with President Joe Biden on April 15, and the meeting “will consult on a range of issues during the visit, including our shared commitment to the lasting defeat of ISIS and evolution of the military mission nearly ten years after forming the successful Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS [Islamic State],” according to a White House statement.
Baghdad and Washington have begun discussions about winding down the coalition mission in Iraq, with Iraq seeking to expel coalition forces from the country after the US carried out several retaliatory strikes against Iraqi armed groups in retaliation for scores of attacks on its forces based in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
The White House statement said Sudani and Biden will also “reaffirm their commitment to the Strategic Framework Agreement and deepen their shared vision for a secure, sovereign, and prosperous Iraq fully integrated into the broader region.”
The Iraq-US Strategic Framework Agreement outlines cooperation in several areas including defense, energy, and the economy.
Sudani's office said in a statement that Sudani and Biden will discuss the "future relationship" between their countries and the "best ways to transition to a comprehensive partnership between the Republic of Iraq and the United States."
President Barzani said that his meetings in Baghdad also discussed the upcoming visit of Erdogan to Iraq, and clarified that is it currently unclear whether the Turkish president will visit the Kurdistan Region as part of his visit.
“Until now, as a protocol, meetings in Erbil have not been discussed. We have only talked about the meetings that he [Erdogan] will have in Baghdad,” Barzani said.
Erdogan is expected to visit Iraq on April 22. A joint statement by the two countries said they are working on making the rare trip “historic” and “successful” and that the trip will result in a “qualitative shift” in bilateral ties.
President Barzani arrived in Baghdad on Saturday afternoon for meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Iraqi political and government leaders, including leaders of the Shiite-led State Administration Coalition that backs the current government.
“We had important meetings with the Coordination Framework,” Barzani said of the meeting with Iraq’s State Administration Coalition.
During the meeting, Sudani’s upcoming visit to the United States was also discussed, and the coalition leaders expressed their support for the visit “in what the Iraqi delegation headed by the prime minister will present in a framework that is in the interest of Iraq,” a statement from President Barzani’s office said about Saturday’s meeting.
Paying Kurdistan Region’s civil servant salaries and restarting oil exports are among the main issues currently occupying Erbil and Baghdad and have also been at the top of Barzani’s agenda, alongside the Region’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
"We have completed our political responsibility and set a date for elections," he added.
