Today, Sunday, November 15, 2026, the second phase of Erbil’s Green Belt Project began in the presence of Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
In a speech, the prime minister highlighted the importance of the project and its role in cleaning the air and protecting the environment of Erbil and its surrounding areas. He thanked everyone who had worked on the project, as well as the Greek government and the Greek consul general for supporting it.
In another part of his speech, the prime minister once again condemned the attack on the Kormor field and called on the federal government to bring all those who carried out the attack, as well as those behind it, to justice and punish them accordingly.
He also spoke about efforts to divide and weaken the Kurdistan Region, stating clearly that they would confront such efforts with all their efforts and capabilities, with the support of God and the patriotic people of Kurdistan.
Here is the text of his speech:
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Honorable guests
Thank you for joining us today for the second phase of the Green Belt Project and the planting of more than 1 million and 800 thousand seedlings. This will become another part of the process of greening the area surrounding Erbil and our city, so that we can continue doing everything within our means to improve the climate and plant trees and forests.
This is a very noble effort and a very good initiative that can benefit the citizens of the Kurdistan Region in many ways. On the one hand, planting trees and forests is environmentally important: it can protect the environment, improve and purify the air, provide people with a place to relax in a more suitable climate, and create a better environment for us. On the other hand, it creates employment opportunities, as many people can work here. Many of the seedlings and trees planted here will also be productive, so they can provide food-related benefits, and olive-oil production factories could be established around them, which would once again serve the people of Kurdistan.
It is heartening to see how our heroic Peshmerga protect our country and the people of Kurdistan on the battlefronts. Here, alongside our beloved volunteers, they are planting these seedlings, which, as I mentioned, amount to another 1 million and 800 thousand seedlings across an area of 10 thousand dunams and include three ponds. This deserves our appreciation. I ask all of us to warmly thank and commend these Peshmerga brothers and sisters and volunteers. Thank you very, very much.
This is an expression of patriotism and loyalty to your people and country. At the beginning of this project, I previously spoke about how much planting trees can affect the climate and environment of Kurdistan.
We hoped that we would be able to continue all the projects we had undertaken in every way and would not allow problems and obstacles to arise that could damage the environment.
When I came down from Pirmam, I would often see that Erbil’s air contained a great deal of smoke. Previously, this was because many generators operating in the city produced heavy smoke. After we launched several projects, one of them the Rwanga Project, to generate 24-hour electricity and provide it to all citizens, this had a major impact on cleaning and improving the air in Erbil and all the cities of Kurdistan. On the other hand, by greening our cities, towns and Kurdistan, we could once again make a greater contribution to cleaning the environment, which is extremely important for the health of citizens. Unfortunately, just as efforts were previously made to cut down forests in the Kurdistan Region in order to make life difficult there, a black hand is now once again trying to terrorize Kurdistan and destroy the essential infrastructure that serves the people of Kurdistan. The attack on Kormor and the strike against the electricity infrastructure that generates power for the citizens of Kurdistan is a crime against all the people of Kurdistan and all the people of Iraq.
We call on the special committee established to investigate the incident to reach its conclusions as soon as possible, so that both those who committed the crime and those behind it can be identified, referred to court and receive their legal punishment. This is a crime against innocent people and against all the people of Kurdistan, and such crimes must not be tolerated in any way.
We have expressed our readiness to provide whatever assistance is needed to support this kind of investigation. We are in contact with the federal government and continue to discuss the matter.
On another matter, dear guests, I want to say that protecting the entity of the Kurdistan Region and developing the Kurdistan Region is the national duty of us all. On the one hand, we work every day to create projects that improve people’s lives and help them. On the other hand, we will not shy away from anything required to protect the entity of the Kurdistan Region and prevent its division. With all our efforts and capabilities, and with the support of Almighty God and the patriotic and loyal people of Kurdistan, we will confront every campaign aimed at dividing and weakening the Kurdistan Region.
Previously, reducing Kurdistan’s borders and territory and changing its demographics were policies pursued by former regimes. Today, whatever form it takes, any attempt to weaken the Kurdistan Region or further divide our country must be confronted. I sincerely call on all the people of Kurdistan, and I am confident that every loyal and patriotic Kurd and Kurdistani will stand against the campaign seeking to divide the Kurdistan Region.
We will continue to serve you with all our capabilities and to provide more services, green Kurdistan, create a more suitable climate and deliver services to citizens. Whatever is within our power as a government to continue doing, we will certainly not hold back.
Here, I would also like to thank the Greek government and the honorable Greek consul general, who represents Greece, for supporting this project. These seedlings were imported to Erbil from Greece so that we can successfully complete this project here.
I also thank Doski Holding, which is responsible for implementing this project, and commend its efforts. I hope that all investors, businesspeople and those with the financial capacity and resources to implement such projects will come forward. The Kurdistan Regional Government will assist them and facilitate their work—not only for projects of this kind, but for any other project that serves the citizens of Kurdistan. We will support them, facilitate their work, help them and thank them.
I hope there will be many more examples like this. God willing, our Kurdistan will move forward day by day, become more developed and greener, and our people will be happier and healthier, with our Kurdistan becoming more prosperous.
