Munich: meeting of Alfano with Barzani, President of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, and the President of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The excellent level of bilateral relations and the substantial Italian commitment in Iraq and in the Region, both humanitarian and military, were at the centre of the talks.
“Italy was one of the Countries that first decided to take action,” said Minister Alfano, “following the Daesh offensive, by donating armaments and deploying a task force, in charge of training Kurdish Peshmerga forces, but also via important cooperation projects regarding the conservation of archaeological sites, health care and education.”
Alfano highlited in particular that  at Erbil Italy can boast the largest contingent of military trainers, approx. 370, that so far trained 7,200 Peshmerga fighters.
“We are very pleased about the progress made in the Mosul military campaign,” stated Minister Alfano who went on to say that it was also the result of the cooperation between the federal government and the Kurdish regional government regarding the assignment of tasks on the field.”
In this respect, Alfano confirmed Italy’s support to the promotion of dialogue and cooperation between all Iraqi political parties, in order to face up to the serious threat of Daesh in the short term and stand up to longer-term challenges, such as the democratic and federal structure of Iraq.