Iraqi President Calls for End to Violence in Sulaymaniyah Protests

Date: 08 December 2020 - 21:14

News ID: ۸۵۲۳۰

BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Iraqi President Barham Salih has called for an end to "corruption, looting, plundering and smuggling” following days of protests in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets to demonstrate against high unemployment rate and lack of public services. They also demanded that their salaries be paid in full.
Local media reported that at least six protesters have been killed in the clashes with security forces.
"Violence is not a solution to confront the legitimate demands of citizens,” President Salih said in his statement on Tuesday.
"The will and the demands of the peaceful demonstrators must be respected. We demand that the security forces behave in accordance with the law and refrain from using violence.”
Last week, demonstrators set fire to several government buildings, including offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
In a series of tweets on Monday, Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the current economic crisis was forced on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) "by outside events”.
"Despite the KRG showing all possible willingness and flexibility in the search for a settlement within that framework, the federal government has yet to release our rightful share of the budget,” wrote Barzani.
However, not everyone is blaming Baghdad for the problems.
"The Iraqi government is not responsible for Kurdistan’s salary,” said 30-year-old Hiwa, a protester from Chamchamal, a town west of Sulaymaniyah.
Hiwa, an employee with the KRG, joined the protesters in his hometown on Monday to demand his full salary, which he says has been slashed in half, leaving his household financially stretched.
Protests in Iraq’s Kurdish region, the semi-autonomous enclave, have been taking place over the years.
In October 2015, five people were killed in a wave of similar protests north of Sulaymaniyah. The protests reignited in 2016 and 2017 due to unpaid salaries.