Iraqi Kurdish politicians, during meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday, urged Russia to protect Syrian Kurds, media reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th October, 2019) Iraqi Kurdish politicians, during meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday, urged Russia to protect Syrian Kurds, media reported.
As part of an official visit to Iraq, Lavrov met with President of the Kurdish Autonomous Region Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and their father, Chairman of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani.
"[Chairman Masoud] Barzani expressed his worries regarding the future of Kurds in Syria to the Russian Foreign Minister and asked that Russia play its role in case of any event or change to prevent further suffering and pain of the Kurdish people in Syria," Kurdish media outlet Rudaw quoted Barzani's office as saying.
Former Iraqi Foreign Minister and member of the KDP Politburo Hoshyar Zebari, who was also present at the meeting, told Rudaw that Barzani asked Lavrov "to use his influence to prevent any humanitarian tragedy or people fleeing from these areas, so that they don't affect the Kurdistan Region or its conditions."
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that a decision on a Turkish operation in northern Syria east of the Euphrates could be made in the coming days. This followed a purported agreement with US President Donald Trump that would see US forces pulling out of Syria. The impending Turkish operation is likely to be an assault on the Kurdish fighters who led an armed coalition known as the Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), which the US supported to spearhead an attack on the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia).
Turkey designates Kurdish groups in southern Turkey and northern Syria and Iraq as terrorist organizations. Damascus has repeatedly called Turkey's inroad into Syria illegal and urged Ankara to withdraw its troops.
