Politics

Masrour Barzani discusses support for Kurdistan’s security sector with EU officials

Support for Kurdistan’s security sector was one of many points the Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC), Masrour Barzani, discussed in his meeting on Wednesday with European Union officials.

Kurdistan 24 2018/11/28 19:44

kurdistan Masrour Barzani KRSC Kurdistan Region Kurdistan EU

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Support for Kurdistan’s security sector was one of many points the Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC), Masrour Barzani, discussed in his meeting on Wednesday with European Union officials.

Chancellor Barzani sat with the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, and the EU Ambassador to Iraq, Ramon Blecua, to discuss extremism and other forms of terrorism in the region, a readout published on the KRSC website said.

In the meeting, de Kerchove and Blecua also addressed relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq’s new government.

“In that regard, Ambassador Blecua confirmed extended EU support for security sector reform including to the Kurdistan Region,” the readout said.

“Both sides had a substantive and productive exchange about the nexus between poor governance and extremism,” it added.

Separately today I met EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove — Substantive exchange about the nexus between poor governance and extremism, and the importance of addressing those underlying causes, many of them political. Readout: https://t.co/9atYCrxyXn pic.twitter.com/IwRBUrVeIZ
— Masrour Barzani (@masrour_barzani) November 28, 2018

The KRSC Chancellor highlighted “the importance of addressing those underlying causes,” noting that many of them were political.

Despite the Iraqi government declaring a “final victory” over the so-called Islamic State (IS) in December 2017, the extremist group continues to carry out sporadic attacks, including bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings in previously liberated areas.

Moreover, the central government in Baghdad has yet to rebuild war-torn areas of the country, so displaced persons can return home with confidence and have available resources.

Chancellor Barzani and the EU officials “emphasized the need for reconstruction and basic services in territories cleared from” IS, as well as rehabilitation programs, “and for regional countries to take a stronger lead in combatting extremist ideology.”