Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (KRG.org) - Spain's Ambassador to Iraq yesterday presented the Head of the KRG's Department of Foreign Relations with the document naming Mr Dawood Jaff as Spain's Honorary Consul to the Kurdistan Region.

Ambassador José Turpin visited Erbil to present the exequatur to Minister Falah Mustafa.

Minister Mustafa stated, “This is an important step forward and we believe that this will advance the relationship between Spain and the Kurdistan Region greatly. The Kurdish people have an affinity to Spain because of their sports and culture but now with this step, we hope that it will lead to an increase in political, economic and trade relations between both sides.”

Ambassador Turpin expressed his delight at having an honorary consul of his country in the Kurdistan Region, hoping that this would lead to stronger relations with Kurdistan across Spain's areas of expertise and where the Kurdistan Region has high demand.

Referring to the recent initiative by the EU ambassadors to help resolve Iraq's political crisis, Ambassador Turpin spoke about the next steps in the process and was hopeful that the European Union and its member states would continue to try and narrow the gap between the various political groups in Iraq.

Minister Mustafa briefed him on the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) position and reiterated that solutions to all outstanding issues can be found in Iraq’s constitution.

He added, “The EU has always been close to the Iraqi people and the KRG is thankful that the EU has decided to take an active and assertive role in bringing about stability in Iraq.”

Minister Mustafa assured Ambassador Turpin that the new Spanish Honorary Consul, Mr Jaff, will have the full support of the Department of Foreign Relations.