Politics

Turkey appoints new Consul General to the Kurdistan Region

The new Turkish Consul General, Hakan Karacay, on Saturday met with the head of the Kurdistan Region’s Department of Foreign Relations (DFR) Falah Mustafa in Erbil.

Sangar Ali 2017/12/17 05:50

kurdistan Kurdistan Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The new Turkish Consul General, Hakan Karacay, on Saturday met with the head of the Kurdistan Region’s Department of Foreign Relations (DFR) Falah Mustafa in Erbil.

In the meeting, Mustafa “reiterated the commitment and interest of the KRG in further expanding and strengthening of bilateral ties with the Republic of Turkey in matters of common interest,” according to the DFR’s press office.

He also commended the efforts of the Consul General in “nurturing” Erbil and Ankara relations.

“Both sides exchanged views on recent political and security developments and agreed that dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad based on the Iraqi constitution is the way forward in resolving outstanding issues.”

Turkey officially opened its consulate in the Kurdistan Region in 2010. Ties between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey substantially developed over the past years, namely in the energy and trade sector.

Relations between the two, however, became tense following the Sep. 25 referendum on independence for the Kurdistan Region as Turkey was one of the neighboring countries to strongly oppose the vote.

There are 38 foreign representative offices and consulates in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.

Editing by Nadia Riva