ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Davos on Thursday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said in a statement, noting that the two officials discussed regional developments, including the risk of an Islamic State (ISIS) resurgence amid escalating tensions in Syria.
The KRG noted that the primary focus of the talks was "the war and military escalation in Syria," with both sides expressing their "deep concern regarding the clashes and fighting, which pose a serious threat to regional peace and stability and carry the risk of a resurgence of ISIS terrorists."
Since mid-January, the Syrian Arab Army and affiliated armed groups have advanced into areas held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in eastern Aleppo, as well as parts of Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and the Kurdish-majority Hasaka province.
The SDF serves as the de facto military force of Kurdish-led northeast Syria (Rojava). Until Syria joined the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS in November, the Kurdish-led forces were the Coalition’s sole on-the-ground partner, playing a major role in ISIS’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.
The escalating tensions have raised concerns among Kurds in Rojava, particularly amid reports that Damascus-affiliated factions facilitated the prison break of a significant number of ISIS members previously held in SDF-secured detention facilities.