Kurdistan Region says Syria visit shows Barzani acted as constitutional partner of Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Kurdistan Region presidency said President Nechirvan Barzani's recent visit to Damascus, where he was received by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has been misrepresented in media coverage focused on the display of the Kurdistan flag inside the Republican Palace. The presidency said the Iraqi federal flag was also displayed alongside the Kurdistan flag throughout the official welcome, beginning at Damascus airport and continuing into the meeting hall, and that the larger Kurdistan banner appeared in only one corridor. In a statement, the presidency rejected criticism that the flag arrangement signaled a sovereignty dispute, calling such readings "baseless and emotional" and disconnected from the full protocol of the visit. It said Barzani has consistently addressed regional issues within the framework of federal Iraq and has framed relations between Erbil and Baghdad as an "constitutional partnership" grounded in dialogue. The presidency added that Barzani acts on behalf of both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region during foreign visits, avoiding any representation that places one side above the other. It noted that the Kurdistan flag is a constitutional symbol carried together with the Iraqi flag and that no foreign flags or symbols are present in the region alongside Iraqi state emblems. The statement comes amid ongoing debate in Iraqi and regional media over the symbolism of the visit, the first by a Kurdish leader to Damascus since the change of power in Syria. No further details on the agenda of Barzani's talks with al-Sharaa were immediately provided.