Dizayee cited the “bond between the community” in Michigan and “their extended families in Kurdistan,” which he suggested put the Michigan-based community in a position “to play an instrumental role.”
“They have been here for decades, and they can be helpful to the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Christian community in Kurdistan, as well,” he said.
Dizayee’s meetings in Washington with US officials begin on Monday. Recent events in the Middle East “call for more cooperation and more discussion” between the US and KRG, he said, as the Kurdistan Region has “been directly affected by these events, both within Iraq and also within neighboring Syria.”
Turkey’s president and foreign minister were in Washington last week, as was Iraq’s foreign minister. This week, US officials will hear the Kurdish perspective—as presented by Dizayee.
He will be meeting officials at the State Department, White House, Pentagon, and Congress. Topping his agenda is the situation in Syria, including the humanitarian issue “and the expectation of a large influx of refugees” into the Kurdistan Region.
It is a “burden that the international community needs to understand” and “it needs to come to the assistance of the KRG,” which already hosts over one million refugees and internally displaced persons, he explained.
Dizayee will also be discussing the situation in Iraq: “the unrest and demonstrations and the support of the KRG for the present government in Baghdad.”
Dizayee was in New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly in September and met then with President Donald Trump, as part of the Iraqi delegation.
Read More: KRG participates in meeting world leaders in New York