The ceremony took place at Andre Citroen Park and was attended by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Massoud Barzani, tribal leader and head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The Kurdish forces were key players in combatting ISIS in Iraq, particularly in northern regions. Barzani also highlighted that France had historically supported Kurdish initiatives, including allowing the establishment of a Kurdish institute in Paris. The withdrawal of Barzani’s forces directly enabled the mass killing, abduction, and enslavement of Yazidis. The failure of Barzani’s forces represented not just a military collapse, but a moral failure of leadership.