German Parliament Commissioner visits Kurdistan Region and German troops

She held talks with German soldiers and the mayor of Erbil.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/04/16 16:13

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Dr. Eva Högl visited Erbil this week (Photo: German Consulate Erbil/Twitter).

Kurdistan Germany in Erbil German Consulate General Erbil German army Peshmerga

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Dr. Eva Högl visited the Kurdistan Region to survey the situation of the German troops there.

The official Twitter account of the German Joint Forces Operations Command said on Thursday that she held talks with German soldiers and the mayor of Erbil.

Es war eine Freude, die Wehrbeauftragte @EvaHoegl bei ihrem Besuch im Bundeswehr-Camp in Erbil über die politische Lage in der #RKI zu unterrichten. Dank an @bw_Einsatz für die stets herzliche Gastfreundschaft! pic.twitter.com/cPDEaO6RXc
— German Consulate Erbil (@GermanyInKRI) April 14, 2022

The German Consulate also tweeted on Thursday that it was a pleasure to brief Parliamentary Commissioner Dr. Eva Hög on the Iraqi Kurdish political situation during her visit to the camp in Erbil.

“The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Dr. Eva Högl, visited the German forces in Erbil in the framework of her regular visits with all German missions abroad," German Consul General to Erbil Klemens Semtner told Kurdistan 24 on Saturday.

"The soldiers very much welcome these contacts because the Commissioner addresses the concerns of all soldiers vis-a-vis the administration. Her visit comes at a time when the war in Ukraine is putting high attention on how Germany will strategically strengthen its defense efforts in the future.”

Gestern habe ich die Wehrbeauftragte des Deutschen Bundestages @EvaHoegl auf der Zitadelle in Erbil begrüßen dürfen. Wir haben uns über die Geschichte der Stadt, vor allem aber über den wichtigen @Bw_Einsatz im Irak und in der Autonomen Region Kurdistan unterhalten. pic.twitter.com/GnoEZ8Dm2m
— Nehad Latif Qoja (@NehadQoja) April 14, 2022

The former Mayor of Erbil and Head of the High Commission for Erbil Citadel Revitalization, Nehad Latif Qoja, tweeted that he also met the Parliamentary Commissioner. He said that they talked about the history of Erbil and the German army’s mission in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Germany is part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS). It trained and supplied the Kurdish Peshmerga forces with military equipment, including MILAN anti-tank missiles, during the height of the war against ISIS.

It is also a member of the NATO mission in Baghdad and supports the unification of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the Kurdistan Region.

Germany has deployed around 100 soldiers in the fight against ISIS. A number of German soldiers are still stationed in the Kurdistan Region.

The German Federal Parliament Bundestag agreed in January to extend the German army's mission in Iraq until October 2022. 553 deputies in the German Federal Parliament voted in favor of the resolution, 110 voted against it, and only one MP abstained.

In meeting with German parliamentarians Barzani Thomas Erndl and Roderich Kiesewetter on the sidelines of the MSC–2022, Feb. 19, 2022, Kurdistan PM Masrour welcomed the renewed German mandate for supporting the Peshmerga and expressed the keenness of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for more German investment in the autonomous region.

In January, the German Inspector General also visited German troops in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

The German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht likewise visited German armed forces in the Kurdistan Region on Jan. 9, 2022, when she met with President Nechirvan Barzani.