Rudaw.net

ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — A large number of Kurdish officials, foreign diplomats and Dutch citizens attended the official opening of the Netherlands Consulate in Erbil, capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Monday, October 12.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Kurdistan Parliament president Kemal Kirkuki, head of the Foreign Relations Department at the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Falah Mustafa, Erbil’s Governor Nawzad Hadi and some other ministers and high officials from the KRG.

Foreign diplomats included the Netherlands ambassador in Iraq, Peter van Leeuwen, the Polish ambassador in Iraq, Stanislaw Smolen, and Erbil based consuls from the UK, France, Germany, South Korea and the Russian Federation.

“The opening of this consulate will further strengthen cultural, political and economical ties between the Netherlands and Kurdistan Region,” said van Leeuwen. He also mentioned that the new consulate will serve the large Dutch community from Iraqi-Kurdish origin, residing in Kurdistan.

The Dutch consulate will not offer consular services like visas and passport renewal. “We are glad that day by day new countries open their representations in Kurdistan,www.ekurd.netbut we urge the Dutch Government to open a fully-fledged consulate as soon as possible,” mentioned Mustafa in his speech.

The Netherlands Consulate is located in a new villa in Ainkawa, Erbil’s Christian neighborhood. Its honorary consul is Salah Awla, a Kurdish businessman with no knowledge of Dutch language. “I hope this consulate will be a bridge between the Netherlands and Kurdistan,” added Awla.                                  
The opening ceremony was attended by the Netherlands ambassador in Iraq, Peter van Leeuwen, the Polish ambassador in Iraq, Stanislaw Smolen, and Erbil based consuls from the UK, France, Germany, South Korea and the Russian Federation.


Photo: Rudaw net
The Netherlands first established a consulate in Iraq 120 years ago in the port-city of Basrah, in Southern Iraq. Official diplomatic ties between the Netherlands and Iraq first took place 70 years ago. Today, the European country has an embassy in Baghdad and a recently opened consulate in Erbil.

Erbil, with an estimated population of 2 million, is the capital of Kurdistan Region. The fast developing city lies 350 km north of Baghdad and is regarded as the safest and most prosperous area in Iraq

The chargé d’affaires of the Republic of Poland in Iraq, Stanislaw Smolen, said that it will open a representative office in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

In November 2007, the Russian consulate was inaugurated in the Kurdistan's capital Erbil to provide Kurdish citizens who wish to enter Russia with the necessary visas.

In June 2008, the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner inaugurated a new French diplomatic office in Erbil, the Iraqi Kurdistan's capital.

In February 2009, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier opens consulate in first trip to Iraqi Kurdistan Region

Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule in part of the country. Today's teenagers are the first generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In the new Iraqi Constitution,www.ekurd.netit is referred to as Kurdistan region. Kurdistan region has all the trappings of an independent state -- its own constitution, its own parliament, its own flag, its own army, its own border, its own border patrol, its own national anthem, its own education system, its own International airports, even its own stamp inked into the passports of visitors.