Syria Sends Delegation to Erbil Ahead of Opening Consulate in the Kurdistan Region
ARK News.. The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the dispatch of an official delegation to Erbil as a preliminary step toward launching the executive procedures for opening a Syrian consulate in the Kurdistan Region. The move aims to provide consular services to the Syrian community residing in the region.
Mohammad Yaqoub al-Omar, Director of the Consular Affairs Department at the ministry, said in a post on the "X" platform on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, that the visit was made under the direction of Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani to lay the groundwork for establishing the consulate in Erbil. He noted that the initiative is intended to facilitate official procedures for Syrian citizens and improve the quality of consular services available to them.
Al-Omar added that the opening of the consulate would ease the difficulties Syrian residents in the Kurdistan Region have faced over the past several years in obtaining consular services, which had previously been handled through the Syrian Embassy in Baghdad.
The Syrian embassy in the Iraqi capital temporarily suspended its operations following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, before later resuming its activities.
The planned consulate will be Syria's first official consular representation in the Kurdistan Region. Until now, all consular affairs concerning Syrian citizens in the region have been managed through the embassy in Baghdad.
The move comes as the Kurdistan Region hosts a large Syrian refugee population. According to the latest statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Iraq hosts approximately 343,000 refugees, of whom around 88% are Syrians. Nearly 240,000 Syrian refugees are living in the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Region has hosted large numbers of Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011. Factors including a culture of coexistence, hospitality, and the region's relative security and economic stability have contributed to many Syrians choosing to settle there.
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