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The delegation met German decision-makers on all levels of government
and administration. Not surprisingly, the Arabic guests were
particularly interested in the experience of the East German politicians
they met, inter alia, in the state parliament of Brandenburg. "After
the socialist East Germany broke down twenty years ago, people here had
to learn how to fill a democratic, federal system with life – not unlike
the people of Iraq today “, said Falko Walde, FNF’s Project Coordinator
Iraq who accompanied the delegation to Germany. This was especially
true, Mr. Walde went on to say, for Kirkuk, one of Iraq’s foremost
conflict areas.

Dr. Rolf Berndt, Executive Chairman of FNF’s Board of Directors, during a
reception at FNF Head Office in Potsdam, briefed the participants on
FNF’s history and mission as well as current focal issues of the
foundation’s work in the Middle East and world-wide.

In the German Federal Foreign Office, the delegation discussed
German-Iraqi relations with Mr. Markus Potzel, Head of the Middle East
division at the Ministry. The guests expressed appreciation of the
German support of development projects and their interest in increased
German economic activity in Iraq.

The study tour took place in the framework of FNF’s current Iraq project
which aims at supporting effective governance and administration in
Kirkuk province. Kirkuk is considered an embodiment of many of Iraq’s
deep-rooted problems: Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Christians and other
groups have deep roots in Kirkuk, and the status of the oil-rich
province is contested to this day. Apart from this highly-politicised
matter, Kirkuk’s citizens suffer from significant deficits in the
every-day governance and delivery of public services of Kirkuk –
problems targeted by FNF’s project.

The foundation has been working in Kirkuk since 2008, financially supported by the German Foreign Office.