German frigate Bayern manoeuvres related to Operation Active Endeavour. "Bayern" deployed once more, on 26 January 2015, to join Operation Atalanta, remaining on station until returning to her home port on 3 July 2015. She returned to Operation Atalanta on 23 March, serving as the flagship of Flotilla Admiral Jan Christian Kaack. This deployment lasted for five months, "Bayern" sailing some 32,000 nautical miles, before returning home on 8 August 2016. On 7 March 2018, "Bayern" sailed from Wilhelmshaven to rejoin Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 in the Aegean Sea, replacing the replenishment ship "Frankfurt am Main". "Bayern" is expected to complete this
Germany–Kurdistan Region relations Germany–Kurdistan Region relations Germany–Kurdistan Region relations are bilateral relations between Germany and Kurdistan Region. Germany has a consulate general in Erbil since 2012, and Kurdistan Region has a representation in Berlin since 1992. Many high-level meetings have been held between the two parties, including a visit to Berlin by Kurdish President Masoud Barzani in 2009, where he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In 2014, President Barzani described Germany as "one of Kurdistan Region’s staunch allies in the war against the Islamic State." German Consul General Marc Eichhorn described the relations as "excellent". In 1992,