Today, the Minister of Defense Pinotti received the Minister of
Peshmerga Sinjari and his delegation, accompanied by the High
Representative of the KRG in Italy Mrs. Rezan Kader and composed of
the most senior military leaders of the Peshmerga forces.
Together with the Minister took part in the interview the Chief of
Staff of the Defence Staff, Gen. C.A. Claudio Graziano, the chief of
staff of Min. Pinotti, Adm. Sq. Walter Girardelli, the Head of the
Office for the Military Policy of the Minister of Defense, Gen. B.A.
Stefano Cont, and Min.Pl. Nicoletta Bombardiere, Advisor to the
Minister.
The Minister Sinjari thanked the Minister Pinotti for the Italian
commitment, expressing his appreciation for its role within the
international coalition of anti Daesh. He then addressed to the
Minister Pinotti a series of demands for better support to the
Peshmerga forces in the fight against Daesh, such as military
uniforms, gas masks, field hospitals, instruments for demining
activities, and availability to treat the injured peshmerga in Italy.
Finally, the Minister underlined that the central government does not
send the budget by about 16 months and is not collaborating from a
humanitarian and military point of view in the fight against Daesh.
Minister Pinotti expressed his appreciation for the role of Peshmerga
in the fight against the terrorists of ISIS and the progress made on
the ground, as the liberation of Sinjar. "We will continue to
provide, together with other members of the Coalition, activities of
training the security forces of Kurdistan," said Minister
Pinotti, recalling that Italy, with about 200 soldiers, is the first
contributor of the Kurdish Training Coordination Center. Since the
early months of 2016 is also expected to send a team of 15 policemen
in Erbil to train the Kurdish Regional Police.
After the talks, the Minister Pinotti and the Minister Sinjari have
given an interview to the Kurdish TV, such as Rudaw and K24Tv.
