US hails ‘strategic partnership’ with the Kurdistan Region

“We are proud of our partnership with the Iraqi Kurds and believe it is central to achieving many of our goals in the Middle East.”

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – Speaking to reporters on Monday, David Schenker, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, described his recent visit to the Kurdistan Region.

Schenker traveled to Erbil on Thursday, following the Iranian missile strikes early on Wednesday morning that targeted two military bases used by the US-led Coalition against the so-called Islamic State.

Read More: US State Dept. official meets with Kurdistan Region leaders in Erbil

“In Erbil, I met with several leaders of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” Schenker said. In each of those meetings, “I thanked our Iraqi Kurdish partners for their steadfast support” and “made clear that the US does not seek war” with Iran, while it “remains committed to de-escalation.”

“My counterparts and I discussed strengthening our relationship with Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan region specifically,” he continued.

“We are proud of our partnership with the Iraqi Kurds and believe it is central to achieving many of our goals in the Middle East,” Schenker affirmed.

Finally, Schenker cited what has now become a nearly three-decades’ long relationship between the US and the Kurdistan Region.

“Our conversations” in Erbil “were about building on the strategic partnership we’ve had with Iraq’s Kurds going back to 1991,” he stated.

From Erbil, Schenker traveled to the United Arab Emirates, where he met the UAE Minister of State, Anwar Gargash, as well as the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohammed al-Halbousi, who chanced to be in the UAE, before returning to Washington.

Kurdistan Regional Government Provides “Outstanding Protection”

Asked why he had travelled to Erbil, but did not go to Baghdad, Schenker replied, “I felt I could go to Erbil, where the Kurdish Regional Government provides outstanding protection for American diplomatic facilities and personnel.”

“The security situation in Baghdad is still pretty intense,” Schenker said. “The threat level is very high, and I did not want my visit to place more of a burden in terms of security at our embassy in Baghdad or on our security personnel.”

Others Share US view of Kurdistan Region’s Safety

On Jan. 4, following the US assassination of Qasim Soleimani, NATO announced it was suspending its training activities in Iraq, and Germany announced it was withdrawing its personnel to Jordan and Kuwait.

Read More: NATO suspends training in Iraq following Qasim Soleimani killing: spokesperson

However, that did not apply to the Kurdistan Region, as the Associated Press subsequently reported, citing a German military spokesperson.

Germany had 35 service members in Taji and Baghdad, and they were ordered to leave Iraq temporarily. However, the 110 German military officials stationed in Erbil were not affected.

“Iraq’s Kurdistan Region is ‘still by far the most secure part of the country,’” Galip Dalay, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told The Washington Post.

“For that reason, NATO members such as Germany have withdrawn their troops only from the non-Kurdish areas of Iraq, but have kept some forces in Erbil,” the Post explained.

On Jan. 5, Iraq’s parliament called for the departure of US forces from Iraq. Sen. Marco Rubio (R. Florida) then tweeted, “Maybe it’s time for a fully independent #Kurdistan in what is currently Northern #Iraq?”

Asked about Rubio’s tweet, Schenker replied, “The United States supports a unified Iraq.”

That, of course, is the long-standing US position.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany