The President of Federal Republic of Iraq Dr Fuad Massoum visited the city of Koya on Saturday afternoon 13/6/2015. His excellency held a public meeting at the Koya University Grand Auditorium Hall (GAH). The audience included the university and institute instructors, directors of the different offices and departments, religious scholars and the representatives of the civil society, women and youth organizations.
The meeting started with standing a moment in silence in tribute to the pure souls of our martyrs. Later Mr. Chapuk Omer, the mayor of Koya, welcomed the president and on behalf of the attendants thanked him for the visit, which he considered an indication of loyalty on the part of His Excellency. In a statement President Massoum expressed his happiness about his visit to koya and stated, "Today I feel honoured having come to the town where I was born and have spent my early days of struggling for the Kurdish case and a town which owns a rich literary and cultural heritage."
Later, President Fuad Massoum, referred to the current changes on Iraq's and the region's political arena, and explained in detail the relations between the Federal Government and the Kurdistan Region and the obstacles that hinder agreement between the two sides. His Excellency expressed optimism about passing the current crises and obstacles and stressed that with collective efforts of all, it will be possible to achieve political security in the country. He also explained that there are joint attempts to bring both sides together and resolve the problems some of which are technical. In this respect, he talked about the approval of the law of oil and gas which, he believed, would be the radical solution for all problems.
His Excellency also referred to the National Reconciliation Project which he himself is working on at present and explained the status of the project's progress. He hoped to make use of the previous lessons and experiences, in particular, from the general reconciliation in Kurdistan in the wake of the uprising. He also mentioned other nations as examples of peaceful coexistence. President Fuad Massoum reiterated that national reconciliation was important to secure international support and so that the aid received for confronting terrorism can reach all the components of the community.
Another aspect of his speech centred on the imposed war by the Daesh terrorist group who, under the guise of Islam, abuse all sanctities. He suggested that confronting Daesh can be achieved by raising awareness of all people through religious leaders, teachers, and intellectuals and asked the youth of the country not to be intrigued by such a group whose belief is a mixture of ba'athism, chauvinism and religious and ideological extremism which are by no means related to the holy religion of Islam.
The President also praised the role of the Peshmerga forces which constitute part of the Iraqi defense system and highly appreciated their sacrifices and fights alongside the other Iraq armed forces to protect the country from the terrorist threats and attacks.
President Fuad Massoum also stressed the need for providing Koya with better services in all aspects and promised to ask the relevant authorities to provide better services to the town due to the town's important status and role in all revolutions and democratic movements, in addition to its historical, geographical and literary position, which give it the right to be better served.
Finally, the attendants raised their questions, concerns and comments regarding certain issues at the top of which was the relation between the region and Baghdad and the responsibility of the Central Government vis-à-vis the situation and the living conditions of the displaced people and other issues to which His Excellency gave answers.
