ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has delayed his visit to Erbil and Baghdad scheduled for July 13, a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official has confirmed to Rudaw English.
The PM’s visit has been postponed to a later date to be agreed upon by both sides, said the head of the KRG’s Foreign Relations, Safeen Dizayee.
No specific reason was given for the delay, he added.
An official from the Erbil Chamber of Commerce and Industry claimed the visit was postponed due to recent rocket and drone attacks across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
“The reason is the attacks on Erbil airport and the attacks on Ain al-Asad military base, and the situation in Iraq generally,” said its deputy head Abubakir Aziz, adding that the PM was due to visit with his deputy and three other ministers.
In June, Mitsotakis met with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in Athens, saying he was looking forward to visiting Erbil with a delegation of Greek businessmen.
It was the first visit of a Kurdistan Region PM to Greece. At the meeting, Mitsotakis said Athens and Erbil can work to build stronger economic ties.
There has been a flurry of attacks in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in the past few days. Three rockets targeted Baghdad’s Green Zone early Thursday.
The day before, 14 rockets were fired at Anbar’s Ain al-Asad airbase, which houses international troops with the coalition against the Islamic State group (ISIS). Two personnel sustained minor injuries, according to the coalition.
An explosives-laden drone hit Erbil International Airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops, late on Tuesday, causing a fire at the site but no casualties or physical damage. It came less than 24 hours after an "airborne threat" was shot down over the US embassy in Baghdad.
The attacks are blamed on Iranian-backed Iraqi militias that want to force American troops to withdraw from the country.
Speaking to Rudaw’s Farhad Dolamari on Thursday, Dizayee said committees have been formed to investigate the attacks, but no progress has been made.
“Joint committees were formed, but the investigations didn’t go anywhere. Even if there was information about those who were behind the incidents, no steps were taken against them,” he said, adding that he expects the Iraqi government to take more action.
