Peshmerga Ministry delegation visits Baghdad to discuss security cooperation, joint brigades

“The intention is to reach some agreements on the mentioned topics and sign a memorandum of understanding.”
Ministry of Peshmerga delegation from the Kurdistan Region arriving in Baghdad, Iraq, June 23, 2022 (Photo: Ministry of Peshmerga)
Ministry of Peshmerga delegation from the Kurdistan Region arriving in Baghdad, Iraq, June 23, 2022 (Photo: Ministry of Peshmerga)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A senior delegation from the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Peshmerga headed to Baghdad to discuss security cooperation and the formation of two joint Peshmerga-Iraqi Army brigades with top Iraqi military officials on Thursday. 

“A delegation from the Ministry of Peshmerga led by Lieutenant General Issa Ozeir, the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Peshmerga, arrived in Baghdad on Thursday,” Star Chawshin, the Manager of the Ministry of Peshmerga Media Office, told Kurdistan 24. 

“The delegation will meet with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense Chief of Staff and the ministry’s joint operations command to discuss security cooperation, forming the two joint brigades between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi Army and setting the related logistics,” Chawshin revealed. 

Chawshin stated that senior representatives from the US-led coalition against ISIS would also attend the meetings. 

“The intention is to reach some agreements on the mentioned topics and sign a memorandum of understanding,” he added. 

On Sunday, a top Iraqi security delegation arrived in the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil to discuss improving Iraqi-Kurdish security cooperation. 

The delegation included the Iraqi Army’s Chief of Staff, General Abd Al Amir Rashid Yarallah, and the Joint Operations Command Deputy Commander, Lieutenant-General Abdul Amir Al-Shammary.

The delegation included senior commanders and intelligence officials. Strengthening security cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad in the disputed territories was on the top of their agenda.

Read More: Senior Iraqi security delegation arrives in Erbil

The Iraqi military delegation had separate meetings with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and President Nechirvan Barzani. It also met Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani and the Kurdistan Region’s ministers of Peshmerga and Interior. 

“The Peshmerga forces should be treated as part of Iraq’s defense apparatus, and strengthening it is in the interest of Iraq’s stability,” Prime Minister Barzani told the Iraqi military delegation on Sunday.

“The Iraqi Army should represent all the country’s ethnic and religious components and defend them all equally,” Barzani added. 

The delegation briefed Barzani on the latest security developments in Iraq and noted that they intend to develop and strengthen cooperation between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces. 

Read More: Strengthened Peshmerga is in interest of Iraq’s stability: PM Masrour Barzani