ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday congratulated Dilan Yesilgoz, a Dutch politician of Kurdish origin, on assuming the roles of Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of the Netherlands.

Yesilgoz, leader of the center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), announced last week that she was leaving her party’s parliamentary group to assume her new roles as Minister of Defense and deputy premier.

“I warmly congratulate Dilan Yesilgoz on assuming the role of Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister of the Netherlands. We value our relations with the Netherlands and look forward to our continued cooperation,” Barzani said on X.

Yesilgoz was born to a Turkish mother and a Kurdish father in Ankara in 1977, and migrated to the Netherlands as a child. She joined the Socialist Party in 1999, and previously served as Minister of Justice under Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

During her tenure as justice minister, Yesilgoz visited the Kurdistan Region in May 2022 where she met with Prime Minister Barzani to discuss developing ties between the two governments, continuing the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), and providing support to victims of ISIS crimes.

Amid the January clashes in Syria between government forces and Kurdish-led forces and reports of violations against Kurdish civilians, Yesilgoz stressed the need for protecting Kurds and other minorities in the country.

“Brave Kurds, who gave everything in the fight against terror, are now becoming victims of brutal abuse and humiliation,” she said in a statement.

Yesligoz has also showed support for the nationwide protests in Iran and pushed for designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organization” for its brutal crackdown on protesters.