ARA News

Derik, Syria – At the invitation of the White House, President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, is meeting Sunday the U.S. President Barack Obama, on an official three-day visit.

Chief of Staff in the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Dr. Fuad Hussein, said that the establishment of an independent Kurdish state, installing the boundaries of the Kurdistan Region, the Kurds’ war against Daesh (the Islamic State group IS/ISIS), the Battle of regaining Mosul from the terrorists, and relations between Erbil and Baghdad are major subjects of Barzani’s talks in Washington.

Hussein added in a statement that President Barzani will open the file of the Kurdish state with the White House, and he will debate it with the U.S. President Barack Obama, pointing out that Barzani has already sent a message to President Obama, in which he stressed the right of the Kurds to self-determination.

In a related development, spokeswoman of the U.S. Department of Stat, Marie Harf, said Thursday that Barzani’s visit on Sunday, includes talks with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and with Assistant Secretary of State Anthony Blakn about the military campaign to weaken and eliminate the Islamic State group.

The Peshmerga forces are considered a key element in the coalition on the ground against the IS militant group, according observers.

Kurdish activist Abdullah Syed Ismail told ARA News: “It is no longer a secret the role played by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the face of the ever strongest terrorist group in the modern history.”

“The equilibrium role Barzani plays in the regional and international policy-making has turned the Kurdistan Region into a popular destination for those seeking geopolitical solutions in the region,” Ismail argued, adding that the strong calls for establishing an independent Kurdish state ــ especially the declaration of the U.S. presidency candidates ــ confirms what was announced by President Barzani who said: “the Sykes-Picot borders were diminished, and the new borders in the region are being drawn with blood.”

The Armed Services Committee in the U.S. Congress approved Wednesday a bill requiring the U.S. government to deal with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as an independent state, within the framework of the approval of the defense and foreign aid for the 2016 budget, which implies providing military assistance to the Peshmerga forces and Sunni militias fighting ISIL in the areas populated with Sunni Arab majority.

During his visit to Washington, Barzani is accompanied with the Minister of Peshmerga Mustafa Sayid Qadir, the head of foreign relations in the Region Falah Mustafa, and Minister of Housing and Reconstruction in the KRG Derbaz Rasool.