PM Masrour Barzani met President of French Senate, Paris Mayor
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday met with the President of the French Senate Gerard Larcher during his official visit to France.
Productive meeting with President of the French Senate @gerard_larcher.
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) February 16, 2023
We spoke about the challenges in our region, and our shared support to Yazidis, Christians and other communities who’ve sought refuge in the Kurdistan Region. pic.twitter.com/Ncfpv9kyCt
"We spoke about the challenges in our region, and our shared support to Yazidis, Christians and other communities who’ve sought refuge in the Kurdistan Region," the PM Masrour Barzani tweeted.
Paris Mayor @Anne_Hidalgo has been a long-standing friend of our people.
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) February 16, 2023
I look forward to welcoming her and her team in Erbil later this year to explore joint projects between our capitals. pic.twitter.com/nPVvEUk1g5
Moreover, PM Masrour Barzani also met with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who he called a "long-standing friend of our people."
"I look forward to welcoming her and her team in Erbil later this year to explore joint projects between our capitals," he added in a tweet.
On Thursday, PM Masrour Barzani met with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Together we helped safeguard the world from ISIS. Now we’re building trade and investment ties to sustain our peoples,” PM Barzani added.
“France is an ally with a common vision; to enhance our region and the security of Europe,” the tweet concluded.
France and the Kurdistan Region enjoy close cultural, historical, and diplomatic ties.
For example, the former French First Lady Danielle Mitterrand played a decisive role in urging world leaders to aid and protect the persecuted Iraqi Kurds from Saddam Hussein’s military in 1991.
She visited the nearly two million refugees who had fled a ferocious Iraqi assault to the Turkish and Iranian borders that year.
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She was a strong advocate for establishing the no-fly zone over the Kurdistan Region to protect it against Saddam’s warplanes and helicopter gunships. She was later named “Mother of the Kurds” by the Kurdish leadership for her support.
France also supported the Kurdish Peshmerga forces during the fight against ISIS.