ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Italy by the country’s top diplomat in Iraq on Wednesday. The award is Rome’s highest honor for figures who have rendered exceptional service to Italian interests, promoted international relations, or upheld human rights.
The insignia acknowledges Barzani’s “pragmatic leadership and his constant efforts in favor of dialogue and peace through decades of institutional engagement at the highest level,” Niccolo Fontana, Italy’s ambassador to Iraq, said in Erbil before pinning the award on the Kurdish leader’s chest.
He added that President Barzani has presented “unconditional support” to expand relations with Rome “and for the Italian presence in Iraq and Kurdistan.”
Explaining the underlying reasons for bestowing the award, the Italian Consul General in Erbil Tommaso Sansone said the decision is “motivated by the exceptionally high political profile of the distinguished candidate.”
The award also demonstrates “the close, collaborative relationship that has arisen between the recipient and the Italian embassy and consulate general,” Sansone added.
Receiving the award, Barzani said that he is “pleased and honored” to receive the insignia, expressing his "wholeheartedly" appreciation to the Italian president, government, and people.
The insignia is conferred on behalf of the Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who approves the candidate following a nomination by the country’s foreign minister and the subsequent evaluation by a five-member committee.
“This is a tribute to the historic and longstanding relationship between Italy and Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. It is also recognition of all those who, over the past years, have worked sincerely to build and strengthen this bilateral relationship,” President Barzani noted.
Italy officially opened a consulate in Erbil late 2015. The opening ceremony was attended by Nechirvan Barzani - then prime minister - and Pietro Grasso, the President of the Italian Senate. Before the milestone diplomatic posture, Italy had only engaged with Erbil through a sub-office linked to its embassy in Baghdad.
Recognizing nearly a decade of intensifying bilateral engagement, Italy's foreign ministry officially upgraded the mission in June 2024 to a consulate general.
Critical to this shift was Italy’s increasing role at the onset of the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS). It became one of the leading contributors to the US-led coalition against the extremist group, providing military training to Kurdish and Iraqi forces.
President Barzani in this regard said, “Italy's military support, the training of Peshmerga forces, and its backing of Iraqi forces have had a significant impact in protecting the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole, in defeating terrorism, and in defending the security and stability of our country.”
Italy’s military commitment to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region is carried out under the national codename Operation "Prima Parthica," which is part of the US-led coalition’s “Operation Inherent Resolve.”
Italy was a founding and leading member of the Kurdistan Training Coordination Center, through which tens of thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces have been trained.
Italy is an active participant in supporting the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs' ongoing structural reforms to unify regional units under a singular, apolitical, and modern command structure.
In his concluding remarks, Barzani said that “it is with pride that I receive this insignia today. I thank all those who have worked to develop this relationship that exists today between the Kurdistan Region and Italy.”
