#BREAKING: Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers remarks to the nation after meeting US President Donald Trump in Riyadh

📸: SANA “The capabilities of the state were threatened, the killers looted, and Syria turned into a repulsive environment for its people, its neighbors, the region, and the world,” Sharaa said, recalling the toppled Bashar al-Assad regime.

"In these two years, there has been a great rise of inflation which has exceeded 7 or 8 percent," Ali Mohsen al-Alaq, governor of Iraq's Central Bank, said in a panel on "Economic Policy: The Dinar & the Challenge of Growth" in the Sulaimani Forum.
#SuliForum2023 "If our border crossings were organized on a high level and all operations were thoroughly recorded, the Central Bank could monitor the outflow of dollars in a better manner," Alaq added while describing the difficulties of controlling the smuggling of dollars.
#SuliForum2023

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), begins her speech at the Sulaimani Forum.
#SuliForum2023 "While these elections were widely recognized as transparent and incredible, which is no small feat for a young democracy, soon after Iraq found itself in an extremely volatile post-electoral environment," Plasschaert said, referring to previous clashes in Baghdad.
#SuliForum2023

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani opens his speech during the Sulaimani Forum.
#SuliForum2023 "We have made great efforts to make Halabja into a province, in order for its victims to be compensated," President Barzani said, thanking PM Sudani for approving Halabja's ascension as Iraq's 19th province.
#SuliForum2023

"I remember the sufferings, the crime, the poverty, and painful images of the past of the time of the dictatorial regime," Sudani said, recalling his past during the tenure of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
#SuliForum2023 "We want the West in general to understand the situation in Iraq. We are talking about a nation which has many ethnicities and religions," Sudani said when asked by moderator Jane Arraf about what the West should understand with Iraq.
#SuliForum2023

"For the first time, we succeeded in a scientific manner to approve the budget for three years," Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani said during the keynote speech at the Sulaimani Forum.
#SuliForum2023 "The budget is an important key amongst the keys that open the pathways for solution," Sudani said, praising the approval of the budget for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025.
#SuliForum2023

President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Bafel Jalal Talabani is talking at #ErbilForum2023 “I ask you, who in their right mind would like this?”
Bafel Talabani asks while addressing the different troubles facing Sulaimani.

#ErbilForum2023

Coming Up:
Iraq among neighbors and global powers: Possibilities and constraints

With an added panelist, Mala Bakhtiar member of the PUK’s Higher Political Council

#Erbilforum2023 "There is a war of intentions between all the international and regional factors in Iraq" said Abas Al-Amri, General Secretary of Coordination Framework

#ErbilForum2023

The next panel is James Jeffery, former ambassador to Iraq and Turkey talking about "Turkey's Centennial: 100 hundred years after the Ottoman Empire" moderated by Dr. Mohammed Shareef
#ErbilForum2023 "Strategic, strong, surrounded, and status quo" former US Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey James Jeffery said describing Turkey #ErbilForum2023

Second session of the #ErbilForum2023 is underway, discussing Digital Transformation in the KRI; Challenges, Successes, and a Development Strategy for the MENA region "Access to finance is also being pushed in KRI through new initiatives ... which I believe will bring a lot of help to startups in their early stages," Mustafa Dawood, Executive Director at the Station Foundation for Entrepreneurship said.
#ErbilForum2023

The fist panel is underway on "Changes in Global Energy Security and Competition in the Middle East" "The Kurdistan Regions needs a great strategy for [gas] exports", Mills said as the new alternatives to Russian gas are being sought for globally

Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani speaks at the Middle East Peace and Security Forum. #MEPS19 pscp.tv/w/cKUWXzFXZ0tn… 'Unfortunately the level of assistance seen so far, is not to the extent that can elevate the burden on the KRG itself' — Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani criticises Baghdad and the international community for inability to assist KRG in hosting refugees and IDPs.

Thread: Full text of Joint Turkish-US Statement on Northeast Syria:

1. The US and Turkey reaffirm their relationship as fellow members of NATO. The US understands Turkey’s legitimate security concerns on Turkey’s southern border. 2. Turkey and the US agree that the conditions on the ground, northeast Syria in particular, necessitate closer coordination on the basis of common interests.