President Barzani discusses ISIS, bilateral ties with German official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday met with the newly-appointed German Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht to discuss mutual interests, according to a statement.

President Barzani received Lambrecht in the afternoon, holding talks on bilateral ties, cooperation between Germany and the Region, as well as the continuous threat of the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

“Barzani and Lambrecht agreed that the fight against ISIS has not ended and the terror threats and attacks in the area are a threat and attacks on the security and stability of Europe and the west,” reads the statement from the presidency.

The officials also discussed the relations Germany shares with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, fields of cooperation, as well as the German forces, which are a part of the coalition against ISIS, stationed in the Region.

Following the meeting, Lambrecht visited a military base housing German troops in Erbil airport and held a press conference.

“I decided to come to this Region because it is very important to show that the fight against terrorism, the fight against Daesh [using the Arabic acronym for ISIS], is not just a fight that affects this region but on the contrary also Europe and Germany,” the German official said in response to Rudaw’s Hadi Salami’s question.

She also expressed her respect for the Kurdistan Region and the role it holds in the fight against terror, specifically ISIS.

“I would like to once more express my respect for the efforts of Kurdistan in the fight against terrorism, the fight against Daesh [Arabic acronym for ISIS], which is a very harsh fight which claimed many victims.”

Lambrchet's visit comes just a month after she took office.

Kurdish leaders have repeatedly expressed gratitude for Germany's military support in training the Peshmerga and assisting in major reforms of the Kurdish armed forces.

In late October 2020 Germany’s parliament decided to keep forces in Iraq as part of the Global Coalition and NATO’s training mission until January 2022. The parliament reviews its commitment to the military missions annually. In 2020, it approved extending the mandate for a year but reduced its total number of troops across the Middle East from 800 to 700.

About 150 German soldiers and military advisors are stationed in the Kurdistan Region to train the Peshmerga forces. Germany is one of the few countries supplying the Kurdish troops directly through Erbil and not through the Iraqi central government in Baghdad.

The Germans have been among the biggest contributors of military and humanitarian aid to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region since 2014. The central European nation is home to a large Kurdish diaspora and has taken in thousands of Yazidi survivors of the ISIS genocide.