2020 has gone by an eventful year .. December 11, popular protests in Iraqi Kurdistan
Demonstrators in Iraqi Kurdistan demanded that they be paid salaries that they had not received since last October.
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The year 2020 celebrated events that changed the world forever and became history, starting with the first spread of the deadly Corona virus in Wuhan, China, through the protests in Belarus, and ending with the defeat of the US President, Donald Trump, and the cyber attack on the United States, all of these stations It was a milestone in this year, and in what follows we list the most important facts of those events:
At least seven people were killed as a result of the violent protests taking place in Iraqi Kurdistan, on the eleventh of December 2020, as government employees demand their salaries, at a time when the Corona pandemic led to economic turmoil in northern Iraq.
About six protesters were killed, after the local security forces opened fire, in order to disperse the crowd of protesters in separate parts of the city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan.
A security man was also killed as a result of his wounds as a result of his clash with the protesters, and about 12 others were wounded.
Hundreds of protesters, in the city of Sulaymaniyah and neighboring villages, said that they had not received their salaries since October.
In recent days, the protesters set fire to government buildings and the headquarters of the Kurdish parties.
The security forces used live bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, according to what witnesses and health workers told CNN, without revealing their identities.
The United Nations mission to Iraq condemned "acts of violence in the region," and said in a statement: "The right to peaceful protest must be guaranteed, and it is imperative that demonstrations remain peaceful."
The Iraqi President, Barham Salih, said that the authorities are monitoring the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan with "great concern", in his statement urging local officials to hear the protesters 'demands, adding: "Solving the protesters' problems through violence is a big mistake."
Saleh called on the local government to work "towards a comprehensive agreement with the Iraqi federal government on salaries and other financial wages, which helps make us all able to ensure that Iraqi citizens can live freely and with dignity."
It seems that the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and the central government in Baghdad have reached a dead end in their dispute over oil and gas distribution quotas, and the Corona pandemic has exacerbated the crisis.
The President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, said in a statement: "The Kurdistan government is making all possible efforts to overcome the difficult financial situation that Iraq suffers, and the whole world."
Barzani added, "The Iraqi Kurdistan government continues to negotiate with the federal government in Baghdad, to obtain the financial rights that Kurdistan deserves, but Baghdad did not respond to the region, despite the flexibility shown by Kurdistan, to reach an agreement within the framework of the constitution."
The Corona pandemic, in addition to the significant drop in oil prices, had a significant impact on Iraq's economy, which relies on oil by 90%.
The government in Baghdad is also struggling to pay its employees' salaries in a timely fashion.
The demonstrations had appeared in various parts of Iraq for more than a year, given the state’s failure to achieve stability, after decades of sanctions and wars, the suffering of unemployment, government corruption, and poor services reaching the people, including electricity and clean water.
Iraq is suffering the worst economic recession since the Iraqi invasion in 2003.
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The UN mission to Iraq condemned the acts of violence in the region, and said that the right to peaceful protest must be guaranteed, and it is imperative that demonstrations remain peaceful.
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