KRG PM Barzani, Iraqi Shia leader al-Sadr congratulate Erdoğan on election win

ANKARA- Anadolu Agency

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on July 2 called President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to congratulate him and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the election victory. 

During the phone call, Erdoğan and Barzani emphasized that relations between Arbil and Ankara should be improved in every area, according to a statement from the office of the Kurdish prime minister.

In addition, Muqtada al-Sadr, the head of Iraq’s Sairoon coalition and a prominent Shia cleric, congratulated Erdoğan on his election victory over the phone.

Al-Sadr’s Sairoon coalition dominated Iraq’s May 12 parliamentary poll, winning 54 parliamentary seats, according to official results.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor also called Erdoğan to congratulate him, according to presidential sources.

Erdoğan was elected president June 24 with 52.6 percent of the votes, according to the results.

His AKP won 295 seats in the 600-member Grand National Assembly, while the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which formed an election alliance with the AKP, secured 49 seats,

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) came in second, claiming 146 seats, while the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) secured 67 seats. The İYİ (Good) Party won 43 seats.