Kurdistan Region PM meets with high-level official in Vatican City

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As part of a two-day state visit to Italy following his attendance at the 2020 Munich Security Conference, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met on Tuesday with Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top political and diplomatic official.

In Vatican City, Barzani briefed Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin about the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) active support for religious and ethnic coexistence in the region and its efforts to strengthening peace and tolerance between all nationalities.

Despite being located in the center of an often disputed and conflict-prone area, the Kurdistan Region has become a haven for various minorities, providing shelter and security to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, including large numbers of Christians from all over Iraq and neighboring countries who left their homes and towns due to the threat of persecution.

Barzani also spoke about his administration's agenda for the Kurdistan Region, including efforts to provide better livelihoods for the public, to develop the economic and private sectors, and to raise the level of security and stability.

A wonderful visit the #Vatican today to meet Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. We discussed the importance of tolerance and understanding both between and within different faiths. Religious tolerance is one of Kurdistan’s great strengths – we must do all we can to preserve it. pic.twitter.com/pUZ484mruf

— Masrour Barzani (@masrour_barzani) February 18, 2020

For his part, Cardinal Secretary Parolin affirmed Vatican support for the Kurdistan Region in general and for further strengthening ties between the two.

Parolin also praised the Kurdish Peshmerga forces' fight against the Islamic State and for protecting various at-risk minorities and commended the Kurdistan Region for being a model of religious coexistence. The official also extended his regards to Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani

According to his press office, Prime Minister Barzani is expected to continue onto more high-level discussions in Rome with the Italian Foreign and Defense Ministers, among others.

Editing by John J. Catherine