Kirkuki in Washington for talks on Kurdistan

In a meeting at Washington D.C’s State Department, Dr Kamal Kirkuki Member of the political Bureau head of   Kurdistan Democratic Party’s Relations   held talks and exchanged views on the current political situation in the Kurdistan Region with Mr. Anthony Kodfri, director of Iraq’s office at USA   State Department

During the meeting, they exchanged views and extensively on the issue of the inclusion of both the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, in the Tier III, devoted to the issue of the meeting completed the search in a positive way

Dr Kirkuk and Mr Kodfri touched on the issues with the Iraqi government, the proceeding formation of a new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Halabja that has recently become a province after legislative decisions of Parliament.

Dr Kirkuki explained the Parliament of Kurdistan was launched in 1999, which included the conversion of three cities in addition to Halabja, new provinces, and citied the Iraqi Constitution paragraph of Article 141 which provides recognition and recommence work with all laws, regulations and actions taken by the Parliament and the Government of Kurdistan since 1992; thus converting Halabja to a province is legally and constitutionally resolved by Parliament of Kurdistan and in accordance with Iraq's federal constitution.

At a later stage, Dr Kirkuki focused on upcoming elections scheduled for April 30, 2014, the issue of Syrian refugees, as well as the growing Iraqis of various religions and ethnicities seeking refuge in Kurdistan.

On the predicaments of the Iraqi government not allocating budget resources for civil servants in Kurdistan, Mr.  Kodfri said the United States understands the distress of the Kurdish people and that budget and staff salaries must act intuitively within the framework of negotiations.

At the end of the meeting, Dr Kirkuki stated the aspirations and objectives of the Kurdish leadership focused on the Kurdish people where it aims for its citizens to coexist in peace, security and stability.

. It also discussed the situation in Kurdistan, and the future of relations with the Government in Baghdad, the Government formation process in Kurdistan, in addition to the legal steps taken by the Parliament of Kurdistan to convert a new County in Halabja, Kurdistan. He was referring to elections scheduled for April 30, 2014, and the issue of Syrian refugees, as well as the growing Iraqi refugee in Kurdistan and of various components and religions