US, Netherlands reject local media claim on LGBT+ talks with KRG

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United States and the Netherlands have separately rejected claims by local media in the Kurdistan Region that a number of Western countries, including the US and the Netherlands, had requested the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to register LGBT+ NGOs in the Kurdish Region, according to statements.

A number of media accounts on Facebook and Twitter reported in early June that the US, UK, France, the Netherlands, and Germany in a meeting with the Kurdistan Region’s Directorate of Non-Governmental Organizations called for the registration of such organizations.

“Though we support the fundamental human rights of all people, this media report is false,” the US Consulate General in Erbil said in a statement shared with Kurdistan 24 on Saturday.

The Netherlands diplomatic mission in Erbil has similarly rejected the claims.

This is false information. Yes we were there, the said topic as stated in your tweet was not discussed.

— Netherlands in Kurdistan Region (@nlinkri) June 16, 2023

“This is false information. Yes, we were there, the said topic as stated in your tweet was not discussed,” the Dutch representative tweeted on Friday in response to an earlier post by a media page on the platform.