ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurds have long seen France as a close ally. That special relationship was further cemented on Monday when the city of Erbil was inducted into the 307-member International Association for French-speaking Mayors (AIMF).
Although Erbil is better known for its Sorani Kurdish dialect than the language of love, the association said the city’s resilience during recent crises makes it a valuable partner. The capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was therefore granted special observer status.
The AIMF conference, now in its 89th session, was held in the Rwandan capital of Kigali and attended by the governor of Erbil, Nawzad Hadi, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s representative to France, Ali Dolamari.
“They said Erbil is a city of coexistence and stability, that Erbil opened doors to displaced people,” Dolamari told Rudaw English on Tuesday, referring to the wave of refugees and IDPs who found sanctuary in the city during the Islamic State (ISIS) conflict.
AIMF provides financial aid for infrastructure and urban development projects in francophone cities.
"Participating in the 89th AIMF Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, Erbil was accepted as member of the organization unanimously by 194 cities," KRG Representative to France Ali Dolamari posted on Twitter with the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.
بەشداری کردن لە ٨٩ مین کونگرەی رێکخراوی نێودەولەتی شارەکانی فرانکوفونی لە کیگالی پایتەختی رواندا لە گەل نەوزاد ھادی پارێزگاری ھەولێر و ھەولێر بو بە ئەندامی رێکخراوی نێودەولەتی شارەکانی فرانکوفون بە کوێ دەنگی ھەر ١٩٤ شاری ئەندامی ریکخراوەکە. pic.twitter.com/yR4Ft2y6h1
— Ali Dolamari (@ali_dolamari) June 3, 2019
The conference was chaired by Anna Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris – the first woman to hold the post.
She told Dolamari and Hadi the AIMF hopes to benefit from Erbil’s expertise in rehoming and supporting displaced communities.
Hidalgo visited the Kurdistan Region capital in 2015 and again in April this year, when she first proposed AIMF membership for Erbil.
Support for Kurdistan must continue beyond the defeat of ISIS, she said at the time.
“Even though Daesh have been defeated we must continue to help Kurdistan,” she said in a Facebook post, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Hidalgo believes supporting the Region could help contain the refugee crisis, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee to Europe from warzones across the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia in recent years.
Paris has struggled to cope with the influx of displaced people and hostile policies from central government designed to keep refugees away have compounded the problem.
Hidalgo has nevertheless made supporting refugees a key priority.
Just a few days ago, a sanctuary for refugees was opened near the city’s main ring road, a hot spot for rough-sleeping refugees, thanks to 170,000 euros from the mayor’s office.
An estimated 2,000 migrants live on the city’s streets and in illegal, makeshift camps, according to an unofficial census by the refugee organization France Terre d’Asile (FTA).
France has been a staunch supporter of the Kurdistan Region prior to and through the ISIS conflict.
Paris was instrumental in the establishment of the no-fly zone that allowed de facto semi-autonomy from Baghdad and shielded Kurds from the previous regime's massacre nearly 30 years ago.
Relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and France have continued through the US liberation, insurgency, and the territorial defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS).
France's former President Francois Hollande met with KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in Erbil in February. Barzani, now the president-elect of the Kurdistan Region, hailed Hollande's "friendly attitude."
The French military has served as a key member of the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition. They advise, assist, and train the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces as they jointly continue to fight the extremist group's remnants.
France has also been a strong advocate for the efforts of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition-partnered ground force in Syria comprised predominately of forces from the Kurdish-led Peoples' Protection Units (YPG). Last week, Marielle de Sarnez, head of the French parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, visited leaders in northeast Syria (Rojava).
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