Croatia continues its cooperation with Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s Foreign Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir has been in Zagreb, holding high level talks with various members of the Croatian Government about assistance and cooperation. Meetings included Croatian Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović, after which the Kurdistani official website announce that Croatia would be sending military trainers to the Kurdistan Region to train Peshmerga forces.
“Croatia is proud to be a member of the anti-ISIS Coalition. We have provided military assistance to the Peshmerga forces and we are determined to continue cooperation with Kurdish security forces until ISIS is defeated,” said Croatian Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović.
The announcement follows a meeting with Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić late last week, and the foreign ministry released this press statement about relations with Iraqi Kurdistan.
“We used this meeting to continue the cooperation started during our visit to Baghdad and Erbil in May,” said First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić after talks with Iraqi Kurdistan’s Foreign Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir. Croatian companies have shown interest in cooperating with Iraqi Kurdistan, Pusić said, recalling that Croatia was part of the antiterrorist coalition and that a decision had been made to deploy Croatian forces to assist the peshmerga. Last year, USD 50,000 worth of humanitarian aid was sent to Kurdistan through UNHCR and the same amount is to be sent next week, after the government approves it.
“Apart from cooperation in humanitarian aid and defence, we hope to lay the foundation for economic and institutional cooperation too, as well as cooperation in education and culture,” Pusić said.
Thanking for the military and humanitarian assistance, Bakir underscored the prospects for cooperation in a number of other areas too. He said Kurdistan faced ISIL on its borders and, owing to refugee experience in the region, was opening its doors to people suffering the same fate. “We want to continue fighting ISIL, but for that we need help from the international community,” Bakir said.
