WATCH: PM Barzani joins viral environmental campaign, plants olive tree

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) — Prime Minister of the autonomous Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, on Thursday participated in an environmental campaign encouraging the planting of a tree, accepting a friendly challenge issued by President Nechirvan Barzani two days earlier.

The campaign, known as “Plant a Tree and Make a City Green,” was launched by activists on the Kurdish social media networks, and has caught on with many Kurdish officials, senior political figures, and individuals of all walks of life. 

“Kurdistan is our big home. Let’s make it even greater and more beautiful,” Barzani said in a video he posted on his official social media accounts.

“I would like to respond to the challenge from the President of the Kurdistan Region, my brother Nechirvan Barzani, by planting an olive tree — an enduring and fruitful tree.”

After participating in the campaign, Barzani passed on the challenge to the Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament, Rewaz Fayeq, and the head of the Kurdistan Judicial Council, Judge Bangin Qassim.

“With the hope of a more beautiful, prosperous, and stable Kurdistan,” Barzani encouraged in his message.

His addition to the viral campaign comes two days after President Nechirvan Barzani planted a tree on Tuesday and invited Masrour Barzani and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, to join in.

منیش بەشداریم کرد لە ھەڵمەتی 'دارێک بچینە و شارێک سەوز بکە’ pic.twitter.com/nxBhWYsUFu

— Nechirvan Barzani (@IKRPresident) August 6, 2019

Editing by Nadia Riva