KRG to join Iraq's foreign representation in meetings abroad: Kurdish lawmaker

"Both Baghdad and Erbil have agreed on the Kurdish representation in any official foreign meeting."

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Erbil and Baghdad have reached an agreement for the Kurdistan Region to have official representation alongside Iraq in international diplomatic conferences and convoys, a Kurdish lawmaker said on Saturday. 

The Kurdistan Region’s Department of Foreign Relations (DFR) announced an agreement on Saturday between the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) and the Federal Government of Iraq which would allow the DFR to join the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in diplomatic meetings abroad.

Dana Jaza, a Kurdish parliamentarian in Iraq who serves as a member of Iraq’s foreign relations committee, noted that Iraq has participated in international meetings in the past without Kurdish representation.

“That is why our priority was to establish that presence,” he told local media. “Now, both Baghdad and Erbil have agreed on the Kurdish representation in any official foreign meeting.”

Jaza described the move as “a crucial one” because it would “enable the Kurdistan Region to establish stronger bases for ties with other countries, especially economically and politically.”       

Barzan Jawher, an international relations expert, told Kurdistan 24 the agreement would include the autonomous Kurdish region in international agreements between Iraq and foreign countries.

The KRG established its foreign relations department in 2006 to foster and improve ties with the international community in accordance with the region’s legislation and the Iraqi Constitution.

There are currently about 40 consulates or other foreign representative offices in the autonomous Kurdish region.

The KRG, meanwhile, has diplomatic missions in 14 countries across the world, including all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, and France.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany