Iraqi Kurdish leader Barzani to meet Syria SDF commander Kobane in historic step
Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani will meet SDF commander Mazlum Kobane in a historic step toward easing regional tensions and advancing US-backed reconciliation efforts.
Mazlum Kobane, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Pentagon’s top ally in the fight against the Islamic State, is expected to meet with Masoud Barzani, former president of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the elder statesmen of Kurdish politics worldwide, three well-placed sources have confirmed to Al-Monitor.
The sources declined to say when the meeting would take place, with one noting it would be “very soon.” The meeting is set to take place at Barzani's mountain headquarters overlooking Erbil. The invitation was extended by Barzani through his envoy, Hamid Darbandi, who met with Kobane in northeast Syria on Monday, the sources said.
The meeting will mark a major breakthrough in the Biden administration’s efforts to ease tensions between Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq, which leads the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq and is part of a broader US drive to reconcile Turkey with the SDF.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
