Kurdistan Regional Government
Representation in Italy
Mrs. Kader was received yesterday by the Head of Cabinet of the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Elisabetta Belloni at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.
The talks focused on the current situation in the Kurdistan Region,
the humanitarian crisis and the fight against Daesh. Mrs. Kader took
the opportunity to express a deep disappointment to the countries of
the international coalition due to the absence of a Kurdish
governmental delegation or representatives of the Kurdish peshmerga at
the ministerial summit, which took place in Rome last week at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and which saw the participation of the
ministers of 23 countries, European, Western and of the region, and
the High Representative for European foreign policy Federica Mogherini
to discuss the strategy to combat the ISIS terrorists. The Kurdish
Regional Government, the Kurdish people and its brave Peshmerga forces
are the most involved actors, fighting on the front lines every day
since two years until now against Daesh, which constitutes a threat to
the entire international community. At the same time, despite the
region of Kurdistan is part of Iraq, the Iraqi government does not
intend to represent Kurdistan, support it militarily and at
humanitarian level and continues to not send the budget provided by
the Iraqi constitution for the survival of the Kurdish people. In
addition, many cities such as Shingal are destroyed. Without a
concrete support, these cities will not be rebuilt and the people
won’t return to their homes, increasing the risk of emigration to
Europe.
Amb. Belloni, understanding the reasons expressed, guaranteed to Mrs.
Kader to forward to the Minister Gentiloni her disappointment and her
desire to engage the Kurdish part in such summits in the near future.
In addition, the Head of Cabinet stressed the importance of the
Peshmerga forces and confirmed the commitment of the Italian
government in military training, in the defense of the Mosul Dam, in
the humanitarian assistance, in the reconstruction efforts of Kurdish
cities and to restore normal relations with the central government in
Baghdad.
The meeting concluded with an invitation from the High Representative
to organize an official mission in the Kurdistan Region with the
Minister Gentiloni.