KRG accuse Iraqi FM of ignoring Kurdistan Region 'sacrifices'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday condemned the Iraqi Foreign Minister for excluding a Kurdistan representative from an international conference.

On Thursday, Iraq and France supervised a meeting involving 20 countries to discuss the preparations for the political future of Mosul after the defeat of the Islamic State (IS).

The meeting held in Paris was represented by Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, but the KRG representative was not invited to attend.

In a statement released on its website on Thursday, the KRG condemned the “improper treatment” of Jaafari and accused him of working unilaterally and not taking into consideration the sacrifices of the Kurdistan Region.

“Following the visit of the Kurdistan Region President to Baghdad, the political and security relations between Erbil and Baghdad have developed,” the statement read.

“The Kurdistan Region has been hosting 1.8 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for over the past two years, putting a hard burden on the Region’s government,” the statement continued.

“It is surprising that the federal government and the Foreign Ministry insist on preventing the Kurdistan Region delegations from participating in the international conferences and summits related to [IS], IDPs, and refugees,” the report added.

Moreover, the statement pointed out that this was not the first time such treatment by Iraqi officials was committed.

The KRG statement also urged the Global Coalition to directly invite Kurdistan to the conferences related to the fight against IS, the issue of IDPs and refugees, and the future of Mosul.

“We urge the Iraqi side to work seriously to ensure such things do not happen again which does not benefit any side and will only damage the interests of Iraq,” the KRG statement concluded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany