President Barzani: Kurdistan is not involved in deploying Turkish forces to Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) - In a press conference held in Erbil on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated that Germany will keep arming Kurdish Peshmerga forces in their battle against Islamic State (IS) militants.

On Monday evening, Steinmeier arrived in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region. He met with the Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani on Tuesday afternoon. Following the meeting, they held a press conference, unveiling the content of their meeting.

In the press conference, Barzani stated that "the Kurdistan Region is not involved in bringing Turkish forces inside Iraq border. The reinforcement of Turkish forces into the country is due to a pre-agreement between Baghdad and Ankara."

Commenting on the role of Russia in fighting jihadists in Syria, Barzani said, "Russia strikes Islamic State in Syria via its rockets, which is good, but it should be in a way that does not cause harm to the Kurdistan Region. Russian rockets passing Kurdistan airspace might hit passenger planes flying in the Kurdistan Region's sky. Thus, we are in contact with Russia and Iraqi federal government about this issue. We told them that this problem should be addressed."

In the last few weeks, airports in Kurdistan were closed for almost four days due to the threat of Russian rockets, targeting jihadists in Syria, hitting passenger planes passing through Kurdish skies.

"Russia gave us weapons, but it does not train Peshmerga forces," Barzani said.

Regarding the current clashes between PKK and the Turkish army in Turkey, Barzani stated that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is ready to help ease the situation in the country if both PKK and the Turkish government agree to negotiate with each other.

On the other hand, Steinmeier noted that Germany will continue supporting Peshmerga, including armament of Peshmerga and sending military advisers. Germany will also help Peshmerga in clearing improvised explosive devices (IED) in the towns and roads that IS insurgents implanted to target ground forces.

Steinmeier went on, "I remember when I visited Erbil last year. At that time, IS took control of Sinjar. I remember the sad stories I heard from people [of Sinjar], I will never forget those stories". He said that those stories influenced Germany’s decision to support Peshmerga and the Kurdistan Region by sending arms and military advisers to Erbil.

Steinmeier also stated that "IS will not be successful in Iraq while hearing Sinjar is liberated" or any other places are freed. These are all reasons that led jihadists to get defeated. "Our military aid to the Kurdistan Region has made a good result. Now, IS has lost 1/4 of those areas that they controlled since their emergence in Iraq," he added.

The German Foreign Minister explained that there are two things that need to be done in the war against IS. First, forces need to free areas controlled by extremists. Second, reconstruct those liberated areas to encourage displaced people to return to their areas