BAGHDAD, Iraq – On the occasion of Newroz, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has extended greetings in Kurdish, saying the language is well-respected in the new Iraq.
"I want to congratulate our Kurdish citizens in Kurdish. I don't speak it, but it is to prove that Iraq is one and united. You know that the Kurdish language is official now in Iraq, per the constitution. We don't want a return to division," Abadi said in Arabic during his weekly press conference on Tuesday in Baghdad before switching to Kurdish.
"Happy Newroz feast. I wish you a happier year than the past year," he said in Kurdish – with the help of a written note.
The Iraqi constitution passed in 2005 names both Arabic and Kurdish as official languages of the state. Following the Iraqi takeover of disputed areas last fall, however, some Kurdish officials warned about a new phase of Arabization, especially after some were stopped from speaking their native language in official press conferences.
The Iraqi Council of Ministers announced a national public holiday on Wednesday and Thursday to mark Newroz, a rare message seen as part of attempts to mend ties between Baghdad and Erbil.
Baghdad last week ended the ban on international flights to the Kurdistan Region and released the initial installment of salaries for KRG state employees for the first time in more than three years.
Abadi said the flight ban came to an end after the Kurdistan Region accepted all "federal demands," that in effect put the Kurdistan Region’s airports under Baghdad’s control.
He also claimed that the salary installment Baghdad sent plus the KRG’s oil revenues is enough to cover pay the Region’s payroll in full.
Erbil has stated that the Iraqi government has sent only one-third of the amount required to pay the salaries of 1.4 million people on its payroll.
The cash-strapped Kurdistan Region is currently paying its public servants according to a salary-saving system that cuts up to 40 percent of their monthly wages, an unpopular measure that has caused numerous anti-government protests and strikes since 2016.
"It is enough to cover the salaries of all the employees of the Region – the full amount of the salaries for all the employees of the Region," Abadi stressed.
Saad al-Hadithi, Abadi's spokesperson, said on Monday the two governments have agreed to use the salary-saving system.
Some medical doctors and health workers went on strike on Monday, demanding full payment of their wages following Baghdad's injection of cash.
Dr. Rekawt Rasheed, the KRG's health minister, said the government may consider making changes to the unpopular salary-saving system after Newroz.
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