French defense minister visits Iraq's Kurdish region

By Idris Okuducu

ERBIL, Iraq

Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani on Tuesday received French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and an accompanying military delegation in Erbil.

According to a statement issued by Barzani’s office, the two sides discussed political relations and recent developments in the region, with an emphasis on ongoing military efforts to recapture the northern city of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group and a burgeoning refugee crisis in Iraq’s Kurdish region.

Barzani stressed the importance of retaking Mosul, saying the current military operation could only succeed if the roles of participating parties were equitably "shared".

Citing the peshmerga’s need for support from Iraq’s central government, Barzani asked Le Drian to urge Baghdad to extend the international military support it receives to the KRG.

Speaking on behalf of the Kurdish people, Barzani also thanked French President Francois Hollande and his government for their support in the ongoing fight against Daesh.

Le Drian, for his part, said peshmerga forces would receive military support in June.

He went on to say that his reason for visiting Erbil was to illustrate France’s support for the peshmerga.

"The war against Daesh is also France’s war," he asserted, noting that the terrorists who had attacked his country were the same as those the peshmerga were now fighting.