The Consul General of Italy in Erbil Michele Camerota on April 21 visited the Catholic University in Erbil (CUE) to launch the first-ever Italian language course in the Kurdistan Region. 

The #Italian Consul General, His Excellency @MicheleCamerota, visited the Catholic University in Erbil (#CUE) campus to launch the first-ever Italian Language Course in the Kurdistan Region. The course will be delivered online by @la_dante Società Dante Alighieri on CUE premises. pic.twitter.com/m7i7KizMiA

— CUE (@CatholicUniErbi) April 21, 2024

In a post on X the CUE said that the course will be delivered online by the Dante Alighieri Society, an international network of schools, committees, and examination centers to promote the Italian language, on CUE premises.

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In a post on X the Consulate of Italy in Erbil said that they were honored and proud to have inaugurated the first Italian language course in the Kurdistan Region with students of the CUE and other Italian lovers in collaboration with the Dante Alighieri Society.

“We are proud and honored to have launched the first ever Italian language course in Kurdistan at the CUE and to have strengthened our solid cooperation,” Consul General Camerota told Kurdistan Chronicle.

“The course is delivered by the Dante Alighieri Society and includes 17 students. Cultural promotion and exchange are some of our top priorities. More opportunities will come in the next few months.”

Founded in 2015 – one year after ISIS seized Mosul and thousands of Christians fled to the Kurdistan Region – the CUE is a private, non-profit institution of higher education and research located in the Erbil suburb of Ankawa.

Honored and proud to have inaugurated the first #Italian Language Course with students of/at @CatholicUniErbi and other Italian lovers in collaboration with @la_dante More to come…@ItalyinIraq @ItalyMFA_int @ItalyMFA @MicheleCamerota @KRG_DFR https://t.co/r7QbW3NaHm

— Italy in KRI (@ItalyinKRI) April 22, 2024

The foundation stone of the CUE was laid in the fall of 2012 in an area provided by the Chaldean Church in Ankawa.

The Bishops Council in Rome contributed €2.3 million for the opening of the project.