As the holy month of Ramadan comes to an end, I’d like to take this opportunity on behalf of the KRG team in Washington DC to wish you a happy and blessed Eid. Cejntan piroz bet.

The highlight of the month of April was the visit of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to London where he met Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Number 10 Downing Street, as well as top cabinet ministers and former premiers Tony Blair and John Major. The visit underscores the close relationship between the Kurdistan Region and the UK and other Coalition allies, including the United States. 

Our partnership with the United States, UK and France can be traced back to 1991 when these three countries launched Operation Provide Comfort, a military-humanitarian operation that saved thousands of Kurds who had fled Saddam Hussein’s forces and were stranded on the frozen border mountains. Members of the US Congress are marking the bravery of this operation and the courage of the Kurdish people for rising up against Saddam through resolutions in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The subject of the US-Kurdistan strategic partnership was underscored in meetings between officials this month. President Barzani met with the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Joey Hood, and Dana Stroul, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East. Ms. Stroul reaffirmed the US commitment to continue supporting Iraq and the Kurdistan Region politically and militarily and also to continue expanding mutual cooperation and partnership between the two countries.

Prime Minister Barzani had a virtual meeting with US Senators Jack Reed and Jim Inhofe, Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in which Senator Reed praised the peshmerga’s historical partnership with United States’ forces and Senator Inhofe noted the bipartisan support for Kurdistan in the US Congress.

In Washington, the highlight of the month was the visit of the Governor of Duhok, Dr Ali Tatar and Assyrian-Christian Member of Parliament Robeena Oimalek Aziz. They met with members of Congress, US officials at the White House, State Department and USAID, and with institutions and advocacy groups.

The purpose of their trip was to highlight the humanitarian, security, and economic situation in Duhok province, which is known for tourism, and trade and as a safe haven for those fleeing persecution. Duhok, with a population of 1.5 million, hosts 537,000 displaced people and refugees. About 70% of Yezidis from Sinjar have sheltered in Duhok after the genocide perpetrated by ISIS.

I had the honor of accompanying the Governor’s delegation in these meetings and in their visits to the Chaldean community in Michigan and the Kurdish community in Nashville, Tennessee. The diaspora is an important component of society in both America and Kurdistan. We hope to translate that into stronger economic ties as well.

Our monthly podcast, Kurdistan in America, focuses on two women from the diaspora who came to the United States as child-refugees. They tell of their journeys to America with their families, the challenges of integrating into a new society, and the activities and achievements of the Kurdish diaspora in Nashville, which is often referred to as Little Kurdistan.

You can read about these and other events and discussions in our monthly newsletter below. I’d like to close by once again wishing you and your family a blessed and happy Eid.

Locals from Shiladze in Duhok province are struggling to bring agricultural products to market because of the ongoing conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey. Hundreds of people make a living from the sale of mountain herbs and vegetables, but their livelihoods are under threat due to the bombardment of mountainous areas.

A group of Kurdish mountaineers climbed the mountains of Choman district of Erbil province to visit Fellaw Pond, which provides a respite from the noise of urban areas with its charming views. The visiting mountaineers were members of the Sulaimani Mountaineering Group, who enjoyed breaking their fast during Ramadan among the mountains.