Shkoi Kurdistan-
The head of the United Nations mission in Iraq has held a series of meetings with the leaders of Kurdish political parties to discuss Kurdistan Region protests in which at least eleven protesters were killed earlier this month.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert met with leaders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Change Movement (Gorran), and the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), all parties that participate in the Kurdistan Regional Government.
According to statements from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Plasschaert discussed the protests in Sulaimani province with PUK co-leader Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany and Gorran’s general coordinator Omar Sayyid Ali.
Plasschaert also met with journalists and civil society activists, some of whom had been arrested during the demonstrations.
“They discussed protests and latest events, emphasizing the importance of freedom of expression and of the press,” UNAMI said.
Protests against civil sector pay cuts and delays, as well as corruption and economic mismanagement, took place across the Kurdistan Region provinces of Sulaimani, Halabja and Erbil.
Protesters were met with tear gas, water cannons and live fire by security forces, while journalists were detained or had their equipment seized to stop them from covering the unrest.
Some protesters from Erbil and Duhok have not been freed yet.
The offices of all four parties, as well as the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) were set alight in protests in the town of Said Sadiq, southeast of Sulaimani. As protests turned deadly, UNAMI condemned the violent crackdown by security forces, but also called on protesters to act peacefully.
The UNAMI chief also met with KIU leader Salahuddin Bahauddin, but the UNAMI statement did not mention discussion of the protests.
Plasschaert met on Monday with Kurdistan Region president Nechirvan Barzani and with prime minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday, with discussions centering on Erbil-Baghdad relations.
The UNAMI chief emphasized the UN’s support for the talks between the two sides, while President Barzani called agreement between Erbil and Baghdad “the key to Iraq’s problems, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
In his meeting with Plasschaert, prime minister Barzani “warned that Erbil’s share of the federal budget is being used as a political tool against the people of the Kurdistan Region, and called on the United Nations to assist negotiations toward an agreement that protects the constitutional rights and financial entitlements of the people of Kurdistan,” read a statement from the PM’s office.
