Lehrerproteste in Irakisch-Kurdistan weiten sich aus

Die Proteste von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern im kurdischen Nordirak weiten sich sich aus. Seit Monaten wurden keine Gehälter mehr gezahlt und inzwischen entädt sich die Wut gewaltsam gegen Büros der beiden regiernden Parteien. Inzwischen soll es auch Tote und Verletzte geben.

Protestors in Sulaimani province’s town of Piramagrun attacked the headquarters of the Kurdistan Region’s ruling parties on Sunday, after security forces tried to prevent the movement of protestors, according to local sources.

“The protestors blocked the road from Piramagrun to Sulaimani both yesterday and today,” Shamal Muhammad, a local from the town, told Rudaw English, saying security forces pushed back. “Today, they changed their route and attacked the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and burnt it down, and they are now trying to do the same with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office, but KDP forces are fighting back.”

Mass protests by civil servants and their supporters erupted in the city of Sulaimani on Wednesday over months-long unpaid salaries. The demonstrations have ended in the city after the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons by police forces, who were deployed in large numbers to the area, but protests have spread to other parts of the province as of Saturday. 

KDP officials in Piramagrun confirmed the eyewitness account.

“We are now stuck inside the office and are surrounded by protestors trying to attack the office with stones and molotov cocktails,” Sherwan Agha, head of the town’s KDP office, told Rudaw English. “We have to fight back, therefore, we have shot into the skies, hoping to force protestors to retreat, but they are not stopping.”