President Emmanuel Macron, "I wanted to see President Barzani to reaffirm the respect and friendship between the two nations and reiterate the continuity of France's support for the fight against ISIS terrorists,"

President Masoud Barzani received Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Republic of France.

 

President Masoud Barzani received the President of France Emmanuel Macron and a delegation consisting of the French Foreign Minister, the Ambassador to Iraq, the French Consul in Erbil and a number of French government political and military advisers.

 

During the meeting, President Barzani, warmly welcomed President Macron, thanked the people and government of France for their support to the people of Kurdistan and the Peshmerga in defeating ISIS, and noted the history of mutual respect between the two peoples. President Barzani also stressed that the people of Kurdistan have an integrated peaceful coexisting culture and that ISIS has not been able to take that culture from the people of Kurdistan and has not been able to establish a foothold in Kurdish society. President Barzani thanked President Macron for his efforts to help Iraq and said that this was an optimistic move.

 

"I wanted to see President Barzani to reaffirm the respect and friendship between the two nations and reiterate the continuity of France's support for the fight against ISIS terrorists," President Macron said during the meeting. This also shows that the Peshmerga fought bravely and became a source of inspiration and this in itself is a lesson that foreign aid would not have been possible without the presence of brave warriors on the ground. Regarding the terrorist threat, President Barzani apprised the French President that the threat of terrorism remains because the causes of the terrorist uprising and the violence is still there.

 

The two discussed the relations between Erbil and Baghdad and the challenges facing the Iraqi political process and the upcoming Iraqi elections, and both sides hoped that the Iraqi elections would be a good tool for change, development and the fulfillment of the will of the people.

 

The situation in Sinjar and Rojava (West Kurdistan) was another topic of discussion and President Barzani shared his concerns about the future of the Kurds in Syria with President Macron.

 

At the meeting President Barzani presented President Macron with a statue of the Peshmerga as a symbol of the resistance of the people of Kurdistan against terrorism, and the President of France presented a special gift to President Barzani with the symbol of the French Republic.

 

Both President Masoud Barzani an President Emmanuel Macron met the family of Martyr Hujam Surçi, and a group of female Peshmerga from the Kurdistan Region Security Forces.