On Tuesday, Dec 1, PUK co-chair Bafel Talabani met up with high-level British delegation including James Cleverly, the Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa, James Heappy, the Minister for the British Armed Forces, Stephen Hickey, British Ambassador to Iraq, and British Consul to Kurdistan Region, James Thoronton.

During the meeting, the latest political, security and economic developments were discussed. Concerning the incidents, issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and financial crisis, Bafel Talabani explained PUK’s perspective to the delegation, stating “PUK supports a unified national policy for resolving the overall issues, and on the top to unify the efforts and attempts in the Kurdish interior home to have a single stance toward Baghdad.”
The PUK co-leader explained that “PUK believes the current issues will be treated in Baghdad, and thus we have asked a decision-making delegation to visit Baghdad and settle the issues.” adding further, “The food and salary of Kurdistan Regional people should not be politicized and be used as a pressure card against Kurdistan Region.”

Regarding Kurdistan Region’s internal affairs, Bafel Talabani reiterated on succeeding the steps of implementing radical reforms in all sectors, and pointed out “PUK has a comprehensive project for this matter.”
Concerning the relation between Kurdistan Region and UK, both sides stressed on improving and expanding bilateral tie in order to better establish stability and security for the region.

Edited by: Dr. Yadasht Salih