KRG delegation's US visit aimed at strengthening Erbil-Washington partnership

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) who traveled to Washington, DC earlier this week met with US officials to discuss ongoing issues between Erbil and Baghdad as well as strengthening American-Kurdish ties, the KRG representation said in a statement on Thursday.

The Kurdish delegation, which left for Washington on Tuesday, was led by Karim Sinjari, the Minister of Interior and acting Minister of Peshmerga, and included Hoshang Mohammed, the Director General of the Kurdistan Region’s Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC).

Pleased to welcome to US @Kurdistan's Minister of Interior and Acting Minister of #Peshmerga #KarimSinjari and @HoshangMohamed who heads @JccKrg. Visit will focus on post-ISIS humanitarian crisis and ways to continue & strengthen US-Kurdistan partnership

— Bayan Sami Rahman (@BayanRahman) January 23, 2018

An official statement by the KRG Representation in Washington informed that the delegation met with US Administration officials and members of Congress, as well as humanitarians and experts.

“The delegation met at the State Department with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan to discuss a range of issues, focusing on the importance of dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad and the progress that has been made toward reopening [the] Erbil and Sulaimani international airports,” the statement explained.

The statement added that the KRG delegation “briefed a group of Senators in Congress about the humanitarian, political, and security situation in Kurdistan.”

According to the statement, Senators Jim Inhofe, Jack Reed, Joni Ernst, Mike Enzi, Ron Johnson, Cory Gardner, Jeanne Shaheen, and Tim Kaine attended the roundtable briefing.

The KRG delegation also met and updated Ursula Mueller, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, on the humanitarian situation in Kurdistan and discussed the UN’s role in assisting the displaced and refugees, the statement read.

During a meeting with the US-Kurdistan Business Council, Sinjari thanked the council’s members “for their commitment to the long-term economic development of Kurdistan,”

He also highlighted the “important role that private companies had played in development over the years,” the KRG Representation’s statement concluded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany