British ambassador meets with Kurdish PM to discuss visa facilitation, regional developments

“The Kurdistan Region is developing, and we are pleased that the Erbil-Baghdad ties are parallel with that development.”

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Ties between Erbil and Baghdad, as well as security in the region, led discussions in a meeting on Sunday between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Jon Wilks, the British Ambassador to Iraq.

During the meeting, Wilks relayed the United Kingdom’s optimistic position and positive support toward the Kurdistan Region’s ninth cabinet, led by Prime Minister Barzani, a statement from the Kurdish prime minister’s press office said.

“The Kurdistan Region is developing, and we are pleased that the Erbil-Baghdad ties are parallel with that development,” Wilks said, according to the statement.

For his part, Prime Minister Barzani highlighted the recent developments of “mutual understanding” between the KRG and the Iraqi government on the outstanding issues between the two sides. He reaffirmed that the ongoing disputes are being solved on a constitutional basis.

In another part of the meeting, both sides discussed the process of British visa issuance in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. Wilks reassured “further facilitation to accrue visa procedures in Kurdistan and Iraq,” the statement said.

The ambassador also expressed British companies’ readiness to invest in the autonomous Kurdish region.

On the ongoing war with the so-called Islamic State, both Barzani and Wilks discussed the rise in the terror group’s activity and its toll on people in the region.

The meeting concluded with both agreeing on the need for further coordination and cooperation between Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s security forces to overcome security obstacles that threaten the region.  

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany