5:41 p.m.
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Casualties have been reported in protests over lack of basic services and delayed and reduced salaries.
Protests began earlier on Monday in cities across Sulaimani and Halabja provinces. They turned violent when demonstrators clashed with riot police and security forces in several cities.
In the town of Piramagrun, northwest of Sulaimani, party buildings of the five largest Kurdish parties were set ablaze. Videos shared on social media show a large plume of smoke over the city.
In Chamchamal, west of Sulaimani, protests began downtown and then protesters moved to attack a power plant just outside the town. Last week, some demonstrators in Chamchamal blocked the main road between Sulaimani and Kirkuk, demanding better services such as electricity and improved salaries.
All Kurdish parties have said they respect the legitimate rights of the protesting teachers and other groups, but urged people to express their dissatisfaction in a peaceful way, away from violence.
Teachers, who led larges protests over salary cuts in the fall of 2016, asked for their peaceful demonstrations not to be hijacked for other purposes.
“We have asked the parties to not use the protests staged by teachers and other groups for their political aims,” Adil Hasan, a member of the protesting teachers in Sulaimani told Rudaw.
Riot police used tear gas and water cannons to end the protest in Sulaimani city center, mainly on Salim and Bardargi Sara streets. Some protesters threw stones, a Rudaw correspondent reported from the scene.
“I did not throw even one stone. I did nothing,” a man who said his leg was wounded by riot police told Rudaw.
Awat Mohammd, Sulaimani mayor, said the protesters did not obtain a permit to stage the demonstration, as the law stipulates. “But we have taken all security measures. We will not allow anyone to destabilize the security of Sulaimani and its people.”
Ambulances were deployed to Sulaimani’s Salim Street in the city center as a precaution. Figures as to the number of wounded have not been immediately made available.
A scene from the protests in the city of Sulaimani on December 18, 2017. Photo:Rudaw/Sartip Othman
Yasin Abdullah, a protest organizer in Raniya north of Sulaimani, said they do not believe they need a permit from a government that has lost legitimacy.
“We are not prepared to seek a permit, because there is nothing called government anymore. We are preparing ourselves to announce staging strikes across Raparin (Raniya) to close the government institutions,” Abdullah said.
Video: Protest in Sulaimnai on December 18, 2017.
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3:25 p.m.
Updated: Protests against lack of services, wage delays ongoing in Kurdistan
Political offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Change Movement (Gorran) and Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) were set ablaze by angry protesters in the town of Piramagrun, a suburb of Sulaimani, Shalaw Ahmed, media officer of Dukan Municipality told Rudaw.
Ata Sheikh Hassan, spokesperson of the KDP Leadership Council in Sulaimani said at the time being no one has been charged for the arson.
“We are calling for an investigation into the incident,” he urged.
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1:55 p.m.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Thousands of people poured into the streets of several cities in the Kurdistan Region on Monday protesting lack of services and the continued delay of civil servants' wages from the government.
Demonstrations have started in Sulaimani, Halabja, Raniya, Saed Sadiq, Taqtaq, Kalar, Chamchamal, Qaladze, Ruwanduz and other areas.
Demonstrations in Sulaimani turned violent after protesters engaged in clashes with security forces.
A Rudaw reporter said there were minor injuries among security forces and protesters.
The reporter said that not only ordinary citizens, but also the Sulaimani Traffic Department boycotted normal work today and that no policemen were seen working.
Video: Demonstrators head towards the Sarra Square in Sulaimani downtown.
The Kurdish government has been suffering from an economic crisis since early 2014 due to budget cuts from Baghdad, huge influxes of IDPs and refugees and declines in oil prices. The financial woes were recently aggravated with the loss of Kirkuk to Baghdad after Iraqi forces took over following the withdrawal of Peshmerga forces in October.
The KRG, therefore, planned to reduce the salaries last week of high-wage earners by as much as 33 percent after a dramatic drop in revenue with the loss of Kirkuk’s oil fields to the Iraqi government.
The new pay cuts will affect those who were skipped during a previous round of salary reductions as part of largely unpopular austerity measures in 2016.
Since the October takeover, the KRG, which is heavily reliant on oil production, has seen its monthly revenues decrease from $565.5 million to $337.4 million, a 40 percent drop.
As part of a reform package to revive the economy and offset the colossal budget deficits, the KRG introduced unprecedented austerity measures that mean the suspension of all larger government-backed investment projects and reduction of wages for state employees.
The KRG has said it will pay back the outstanding amount of the reduced salaries in the future when oil prices rise or the economy stabilizes, something that some teachers and other workers have rejected.
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