ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The political party known as the Goran Movement said its rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has blocked Goran parliamentarians, including the parliament speaker Yousif Mohammed, from entering Erbil, a Goran official told Rudaw on Monday.
“We were with a group of Goran MPs following the convoy of the Kurdistan parliament speaker when we received a phone call saying they refused to let the parliament speaker enter Erbil and we need to return back, ” said
Adel Aziz, a Goran parliamentarian.
“A huge military force with heavy weapons was standing near the main Erbil checkpoint between Kirkuk and Erbil to prevent the head of parliament and Gorna MPs to enter Erbil and told him to return back and he did,” Aziz added.
A statement by Goran claimed the decision to block the road came from the ruling KDP. Aziz expressed concern over the possible motive for the ban, questioning how political negotiations could be held if the speaker of parliament was forced to stay out of the capital.
According to Rudaw sources, the Kurdistan parliament speaker is now in Sulaimania.
Tthe Kurdistan region has seen a week of angry protests in the cities of Suliamani, Halabja, Raniyah, Kalar and other towns.
Hundreds of demonstrators first took to the streets last week in cities across the Kurdistan region to protest delayed salaries and the stalemate between Kurdish political parties that has left the regional government without an official president for since July. Several KDP offices have been torched in various locations.
Hundreds of activists, journalists, academics and non-governmental organizations released a joint statement Saturday to condemn recent violence in the Kurdistan region and call on the Kurdistan Regional Government and protesters for calm.
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