Barzani talks of bilateral relations with Erdogan

Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani met Turkey’s Prime Minister Receb Tayyip Erdogan to discuss recent developments in the Middle East, bilateral relations, recent events in Syria, on-going developments in Iraq and preparations for the Kurdish national congress.

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Deputy Prime Minister Emad Ahmed, Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami and Kurdistan Regional Government Spokesman Safeen Dizayee accompanied Prime Minister Barzani.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz, and Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici also attended the meeting.

Both sides stressed the importance of strengthening economic and trade relations with increasing coordination in the field of energy.

The current political and security situation in Iraq and the meetings between the KRG and central government in Baghdad were also discussed.

Turkey repeated its support for improving relations between the KRG and Baghdad and the mutual visits between them to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Mr Barzani’s meeting with Mr Erdogan followed recent discussions with Foreign Minister Davutoglu in which the Syrian crisis, including the role of the Syrian-Kurdish parties, were discussed. They also talked about the Kurdish national congress, a conference of the representatives of all parts of Kurdistan that is scheduled to take place in August.

In both meetings, the Turkish side reiterated its support for solving the Kurdish issue through peaceful means, which has also been the message of Kurdistan-Region’s President Massoud Barzani