Ted Cruz adviser: Congress supports KRG

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Victoria Coates, Foreign Policy Advisor to US Senator Ted Cruz, said on Saturday that the US Congress supports the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the war against the Islamic State (Da'esh).

In an interview with K24 in Washington, DC, Coates emphasized the alliance of the Kurdistan Region with the United States and other countries in the US-led anti-IS coalition. She stated that, “I know [the US] has many, many friends in the region.” Coates stressed that the US Congress is fully behind stability and peace in Iraq.

She also highlighted the success of the KRG in the protection of religious and ethnic minorities. Coates pointed out that the coexistence of different religious and ethnic groups in Kurdistan is significant in stabilizing peace.

The Foreign Policy Advisor added that the victories of the Peshmerga forces against Da'esh insurgents, despite the economic hardship, have strengthened the ties between the Kurdistan Region and its US and Western allies.

She announced that the US Congress actively backs the KRG economically. Coates’ comments about economic support come after the visit of a senior Kurdish delegation to Washington, DC on Jan. 13. The delegation updated the US members of the Senate, Congress, Presidential Administration, and media on the KRG’s security and economic situation.

Fuad Hussein, Chief of Staff to the Kurdistan Region President, led the delegation visiting the US alongside Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations. Hussein announced that the results of the discussions with US officials were positive.

The recent drop in oil prices, housing about two million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the costs of the war against Da'esh, and the refusal of Baghdad’s Federal Government to pay KRG’s 17 percent budget share have resulted in a crippling economic crisis in Kurdistan.

Writing by Ehsan Mamakani

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany