President Barzani, Germany’s Scholz to meet in Berlin on Monday
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani is set to visit Berlin on Monday to discuss bilateral relations with the country’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to the German government’s spokesperson.
Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday, German government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann announced that Barzani and Scholz will meet in the German capital on Monday.
In response to a question by Rudaw’s Alla Shally about the agenda of the meeting, she said both leaders will discuss bilateral relations and the latest developments in the Middle East.
Germany is an essential member of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS). The country has also been involved in the Peshmerga reforms for the last few years. The German army has been mostly based in the Kurdistan Region.
The German parliament in October decided to extend its military mandate in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, continuing its operation to train and advise armed forces in the country against the threat of ISIS.
ISIS swept through large parts of Iraq in 2014, seizing vast swathes of land and committing countless atrocities, including genocide. The group was territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to pose serious security risks in the country through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, particularly in the disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad which stretch across several provinces including Kirkuk, Salahaddin, and Diyala.
Weapons provided by Germany, especially the guided anti-tank MILAN missiles, were very essential in Peshmerga forces’ fight against the terror group.
President Barzani in October thanked Germany for extending its military mandate in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, expressing the Region’s appreciation for the country’s military and humanitarian aid during the ISIS war.
“ISIS continues to be a serious danger to peace and stability in Iraq, Syria, and the wider region threatening the security of Europe,” Barzani said at the time.
More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped when ISIS attacked their heartland of Shingal in Nineveh province. Some 2,000 remain missing. Barzani’s office has played the key role in finding the missing ones.
Germany is among countries that have recognzied the ISIS atrocities against Yazidis as “genocide.”
Germany has carried out several projects in the Yazidi heartland, Shingal, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps housing Yazidi people since 2014, in attempts to help the religious minority group, according to a German diplomat in Erbil.
Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday, German government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann announced that Barzani and Scholz will meet in the German capital on Monday.
In response to a question by Rudaw’s Alla Shally about the agenda of the meeting, she said both leaders will discuss bilateral relations and the latest developments in the Middle East.
Germany is an essential member of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS). The country has also been involved in the Peshmerga reforms for the last few years. The German army has been mostly based in the Kurdistan Region.
The German parliament in October decided to extend its military mandate in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, continuing its operation to train and advise armed forces in the country against the threat of ISIS.
ISIS swept through large parts of Iraq in 2014, seizing vast swathes of land and committing countless atrocities, including genocide. The group was territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to pose serious security risks in the country through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, particularly in the disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad which stretch across several provinces including Kirkuk, Salahaddin, and Diyala.
Weapons provided by Germany, especially the guided anti-tank MILAN missiles, were very essential in Peshmerga forces’ fight against the terror group.
President Barzani in October thanked Germany for extending its military mandate in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, expressing the Region’s appreciation for the country’s military and humanitarian aid during the ISIS war.
“ISIS continues to be a serious danger to peace and stability in Iraq, Syria, and the wider region threatening the security of Europe,” Barzani said at the time.
More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped when ISIS attacked their heartland of Shingal in Nineveh province. Some 2,000 remain missing. Barzani’s office has played the key role in finding the missing ones.
Germany is among countries that have recognzied the ISIS atrocities against Yazidis as “genocide.”
Germany has carried out several projects in the Yazidi heartland, Shingal, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps housing Yazidi people since 2014, in attempts to help the religious minority group, according to a German diplomat in Erbil.