UK Secretary of State urges Abadi, Barzani to seek quick, peaceful resolution

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on Monday urged Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to seek a quick and peaceful resolution to the current tensions.

In a statement, Boris Johnson, the UK Secretary of State, said he had spoken with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday afternoon to urge dialogue and de-escalation of tensions between Erbil and Baghdad.

“I encouraged both [PM Barzani and Abadi] to continue to de-escalate the situation on the ground in Iraq and to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to conflict,” Johnson said.

According to the statement, the UK welcomes both Baghdad and Erbil’s willingness to engage in dialogue on the basis of the Iraqi Constitution and encourages them to agree on a timetable for talks.

The UK Secretary of State reiterated his country’s continued support to the Kurds within a unified Iraq.

He added that Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have been “staunch allies of the UK in recent years as we have jointly fought the scourge of the Islamic State (IS) in the region.”

Johnson welcomed the Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani’s decision not to extend his term, adding the choice offers “a new generation of Kurds” to lead Kurdistan.

The Kurdistan Region “must build strong democratic institutions and resolve historical differences between the KRG and the Iraqi government consistent with the Iraqi Constitution,” Johnson stated, adding the Region “will have the UK’s full support.”

“I want to pay tribute to [President] Barzani’s leadership in that fight [against IS], to his years of service to the [Kurdish] people, and to the role he played in the formation of modern Iraq,” the statement concluded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany