Iraqi Police Use Force to Disperse Medical School Graduates Protest in Baghdad

Iraqi graduates protest near the Green Zone in Baghdad. (EPA file photo)
Iraqi graduates protest near the Green Zone in Baghdad. (EPA file photo)
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Iraqi Police Use Force to Disperse Medical School Graduates Protest in Baghdad

Iraqi graduates protest near the Green Zone in Baghdad. (EPA file photo)
Iraqi graduates protest near the Green Zone in Baghdad. (EPA file photo)

Thousands of medical school graduates took to the streets of Baghdad on Tuesday to protest against the failure to hire them for public sector jobs over a year since they graduated.

The police used excessive force to disperse them, complained several protesters, who gathered near the Green Zone that houses government buildings.

Over 25 people were wounded in the rallies, while activists said eleven have “gone missing” and believed to be detained by security forces.

Witnesses said riot police used clubs and water cannon to disperse the protesters, leaving them with injuries.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered a probe into the violence, stressing that all Iraqis have the right to hold peaceful protests.

On Monday, the PM approved the appointment of nearly 60,000 doctors in the public sector. The cabinet agreed to allocate the necessary funds to finance their salaries.

The appointments weren’t enough to quell the anger on the streets.

Head of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee Arshad al-Salihi noted that the growing number of private universities has led to a growing number of medical school graduates, while there aren’t enough public sector job vacancies for them to fill.

He called on the state to provide different job grades for the graduates to ensure that they are hired.

Medical sources doubted that the state would be able to meet the demand for employment by the graduates due to their swelling numbers every year.

The sources explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the majority of the private universities are owned by powerful political figures and parties.

One year at medical school costs at least 10 million dinars, or about 7,000 dollars, they added.

However, several health specialists have complained that the graduates aren’t even qualified enough for jobs given the poor and outdated educational standards at the universities they studied at.

“The greatest crime successive authorities in Iraq have committed – under the pressure of influential parties – is allowing the establishment of dozens of private universities that are specialized in various medical studies,” they added.

The sources predicted that the problem of unemployed graduates will only deepen with time and the government will find itself unable to contain their large numbers.



Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Backing Syria’s Military and Has No Immediate Withdrawal Plans, Defense Minister Says 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding on establishing a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea, aimed at clearing mines floating there as a result of the war in Ukraine, in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Türkiye is training and advising Syria's armed forces and helping improve its defenses, and has no immediate plans for the withdrawal or relocation of its troops stationed there, Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters.

Türkiye has emerged as a key foreign ally of Syria's new government since opposition groups - some of them backed for years by Ankara - ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December to end his family's five-decade rule.

It has promised to help rebuild neighboring Syria and facilitate the return of millions of Syrian civil war refugees, and played a key role last month getting US and European sanctions on Syria lifted.

The newfound Turkish influence in Damascus has raised Israeli concerns and risked a standoff or worse in Syria between the regional powers.

In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler said Türkiye and Israel, which carried out its latest airstrikes on southern Syria late on Tuesday, are continuing de-confliction talks to avoid military accidents in the country.

Türkiye’s overall priority in Syria is preserving its territorial integrity and unity, and ridding it of terrorism, he said, adding Ankara was supporting Damascus in these efforts.

"We have started providing military training and consultancy services, while taking steps to increase Syria's defense capacity," Guler said, without elaborating on those steps.

Named to the post by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan two years ago, Guler said it was too early to discuss possible withdrawal or relocation of the more than 20,000 Turkish troops in Syria.

Ankara controlled swathes of northern Syria and established dozens of bases there after several cross-border operations in recent years against Kurdish militants it deems terrorists.

This can "only be re-evaluated when Syria achieves peace and stability, when the threat of terrorism in the region is fully removed, when our border security is fully ensured, and when the honorable return of people who had to flee is done," he said.

NATO member Türkiye has accused Israel of undermining Syrian peace and rebuilding with its military operations there in recent months and, since late 2023, has also fiercely criticized Israel's assault on Gaza.

But the two regional powers have been quietly working to establish a de-confliction mechanism in Syria.

Guler described the talks as "technical level meetings to establish a de-confliction mechanism to prevent unwanted events" or direct conflict, as well as "a communication and coordination structure".

"Our efforts to form this line and make it fully operational continue. Yet it should not be forgotten that the de-confliction mechanism is not a normalization," he told Reuters.