Nechirvan Barzani and Russian envoy discuss Syria, post-election politics in Iraq

Mustafa Shilani 2021/12/02 21:28

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani meets in Erbil with Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Dec. 2, 2021. (Photo: KRG)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday received at his Erbil office Russian envoy Mikhail Bogdanov to discuss Iraq's October parliamentary election, the formation of the next national administration, and the path forward for Iraqi governance in general.

Bogdanov, who is heading a political, diplomatic, and economic delegation that has met with multiple top Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials since Wednesday, currently serves as both Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia and President Vladimir Putin's Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa.

A statement from office reported that Bogdanov "conveyed the greetings" of both Putin and his Foreign Minister and "expressed his happiness for the opportunity to discuss and exchange views on common interests."

Barzani told him, "The Kurdistan Region, as it always has in Iraq, will be part of the solution and not part of the problem," and that Kurdish officials are waiting for parties associated with the nation's Shia Muslim majority "to address their differences over the election results so that they can finally begin the process of forming the new government in accordance with legal and constitutional procedures."

As the conversation turned to Syria, the Kurdish president said that the protracted conflict there "has direct effects on the situation in the region, and that the Kurdistan Region, from the beginning, was clear that it was necessary for the Kurds to address their problems within the Syrian framework with a common understanding of the Syrian Kurdish parties."

On Wednesday, Bogdanov met with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, who stressed that "the importance of finding a political roadmap to solve the Kurdish issue in Syria," was key, but that any plan going forward must "be far from authoritarianism and individuality and represent all Kurdish parties in Syria."

Earlier in the day, the Russian envoy also met with Masoud Barzani, elder Kurdish statesman and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

At the meeting, according to a KRG statement, Bogdanov said, "The Kurdistan Region, for Russia, has a major role in Iraq and is a factor of stability."