Error occured during this request! Please try again later.
Kurdistan
From left: Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio, and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani meeting in Erbil. Date: December 23, 2021. Photo: handout
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Italian foreign minister arrived in Kurdistan Region’s capital city of Erbil Thursday afternoon to visit his country’s troops and meet with Kurdish leadership. He invited the Region's President Nechirvan Barzani to Rome.
Rome announced on Wednesday that its Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio would visit Kuwait and Iraq the next day “for meetings with local authorities and to greet Italian contingents at the Al Salem (Kuwait) and Camp Singara (Erbil) bases and the Italian soldiers of the Nato/Cjtf contingent (Baghdad).”
The minister arrived in Erbil on Thursday afternoon. He later met with President Barzani, discussing the Region's relations with Italy as well as " emphasizing mutual interest to develop relations and broaden fields of cooperation, especially in terms of economy and culture," according to a readout from Barzani's office which stated that the latest Iraqi elections, the fight against terrorism, Erbil-Baghdad relations and the importance of the stability of the region were among issues discussed.
The Italian minister invited President Barzani to Rome, added the readout.
#Kurdistan @IKRPresident Nechirvan Barzani met with Italian Minister @luigidimaio of Foreign Affairs tonight in #Erbil and received official invitation to visit Italy. pic.twitter.com/PkuMOWC5dD
— Kurdistan Region Presidency (@KurdistanRegion) December 23, 2021
Italy is part of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS). Italian troops stationed in the Kurdistan Region have provided training for Peshmerga forces.
Lorenzo Guerini, Italian defence minister, visited Kurdistan Region in September 2020, discussing the Region’s stability and ISIS with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. “Kurdistan-Italy links grow from strength to strength and we now intend to build strong partnerships in trade and investment,” PM Barzani said in a tweet at the time.”
The Kurdish premiere had visited Rome in February same year.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment