Head of Turkmen front Aydin Maruf said the delegation will hold talks with Shia’s top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to normalize the relation between Erbil and Baghdad, NRT reported.

Preparations are underway to form the delegation, he added. The delegation is also expected to visit Baghdad following Najaf and Karbala.

“This was discussed on Wednesday during a meeting with the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) in which top political parties’ officials participated,” Maruf noted.

The Change Movement (Gorran) and the Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIU) refused to have representatives in the delegation if the delegation was formed from the Kurdish government, he continued.

“Let the government lead the delegation,” Maruf said citing Gorran and KIU.

The delegation’s visit comes with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) readiness to engage in dialogue with the government of Iraq to resolve the issues.

Relations between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq hit their lowest in the aftermath of the referendum held by the Kurdistan Region, which saw 92.7 percent of voters say “yes” to independence.

Reporter’s code: 50101