Eurasia Press & News
On Thursday, the French Consul General in Erbil affirmed his country’s ongoing support for the security of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq during a meeting with the head of the leading Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Masoud Barzani received the Consul General Olivier Decottignies in the KDP’s mountaintop headquarters known as Pirmam, located outside the federal region’s capital.
In the meeting, both sides discussed the latest security developments and domestic political tribulations Iraq is facing, as well as regional and international tensions playing out on its soil.
Decottignies affirmed that Paris would continue its ongoing support as a member of the US-led anti-Islamic State Coalition forces, which resumed operations on Wednesday after their suspension as a result of escalating hostilities between Washington and Tehran that began with attacks by Iranian-backed militias on Iraqi military bases hosting US troops, as well as on the US embassy in Baghdad.
Since 2014, the French government has provided humanitarian, logistical, and military support to the Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi forces in the fight against the extremist group.
Both Barzani and Decottignies took part in a lively and in-depth exchange about the threat of the extremist organization and the risk of its resurgence in Iraq and throughout the region.
France maintains strong relations with the Kurdistan Region and played a significant role in pressuring Baghdad to lift harsh sanctions imposed on the semi-autonomous region following its 2017 independence referendum.
