Netherlands to train more Peshmerga, support Kurdish agriculture: Dutch PM

DAVOS, Switzerland (Kurdistan24) – The President of the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday met the Prime Minister of the Netherlands in Davos, Switzerland during the 2017 World Economic Forum (WEF).

The Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani and the Dutch PM Mark Rutte discussed bilateral relations, diversifying the Region’s income, Erbil-Baghdad ties, and the Mosul liberation operation.

“I had an important meeting with President Barzani,” PM Rutte told Kurdistan24, praising the leadership of President Barzani in the fight against the Islamic State (IS).

Rutte talked about his visit to Erbil in August 2016 when the operation against IS in Mosul was in the planning phase.

Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi security forces launched the offensive to retake Mosul on Oct. 17, 2016.

“We discussed the need for social reconciliation in the next phase,” PM Rutte told Kurdistan24. “When the fight is completed in the satisfactory military sense, then social reconciliation needs to take place.”

The Erbil-Baghdad relations and Ankara-Baghdad-Erbil relations were also discussed between the Kurdistan Region and the Dutch delegation, Rutte said.

Rutte also highlighted the Netherlands’ military support to the Peshmerga forces, stating the country will “stay involved.”

“We have decided to be more involved in terms of training of Peshmerga forces who are some of the best troops in the region,” the PM explained.

“Through UNDP we are involved in the economic development [in the Kurdistan Region],” Rutte said.

“Netherlands will help in the agriculture and mineral sectors, and many other ways to work together,” he concluded.

President Barzani held another meeting with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and also met the Dutch and German Defense Ministers separately.

On Monday, President Barzani departed for Europe to attend the 2017 WEF conference in Switzerland.

He met the US Vice-President Joe Biden and the Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende on Tuesday.

The President will join four other world leaders to discuss ending conflict in the Middle East, specifically in Syria and Iraq.

The Panel is called “Syria and Iraq: Ending the Conflict,” where the panelists will offer their insight into ways of “rebuilding stability in the region.”

The Panel will begin on Jan. 20 at 9:45 a.m. GMT.

Editing by Ava Homa and Karzan Sulaivany

(Bargasht Wahid conducted the interview from Davos)