in June 2015. In 2006, he created the Kurdistan Department of Foreign Relations, and he has served as its Foreign Minister since then after taking the role in September 2006. In September 2016, he remained Kurdistan Regional Government's minister of foreign relations. That month he asserted that "if we reach an agreement with Baghdad (on statehood), there may not be a need for a referendum." In October 2016, he stated publicly that the
Peshmerga were suffering casualties due to a lack of air support. He is a frequent guest lecturer at
Salahaddin University and University of Kurdistan - Hewler (UKH) in Erbil. ==Personal life==