US-Kurdistan Region ties continue to grow, says KRG envoy to US
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Treefa Aziz, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representative to the United States, on Monday told Kurdistan 24 that the “Relationship between the Kurdistan Region and the US continues to grow.”
She also expressed optimism about strengthening bilateral relations between the US and the Kurdistan Region.
“My plan is to continue to strengthen the relationship not just with the US government but with the US people,” Ms. Aziz noted.
Moreover, the representative revealed that she would like to cooperate and coordinate with US organizations, academics, institutions and universities.
“[M]y main focus will be to continue to advocate and promote Kurdistan and the KRG Ninth Cabinet, currently led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. In that regard, we will be reaching out and coordinating with Congress very heavily,” she added.
Furthermore, she stated that she met with the recently appointed US Consul General to Erbil Mark Stroh where they discussed their priorities and current projects the US Consulate is working on in the Kurdistan Region.
On July 17, Ms. Aziz was appointed as the new Kurdistan Region representative to the US, replacing Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman who had served in the position for eight years.
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Ms. Aziz has more than 25 years of experience in US politics, policy, and advocacy. She has worked in both government and private sector roles, tackling diverse matters such as federal legislation, appropriations, tax policy, legal services, telecommunications, humanitarian assistance, and economic policy. Notably, in 2013 she worked in Congress for a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.
Having personally experienced the hardships of political persecution, she emigrated from the Kurdistan Region to the United States with her family in 1977, seeking refuge from the regime of Saddam Hussein and his Baathist government.
During the 1991 Gulf War in Iraq, she served as the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Representative to the United States.