Kurdish PM Blames Baghdad over Wages as Protests Rage

The headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic party after it was burned during anti-government protests on Tuesday. (Reuters)
The headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic party after it was burned during anti-government protests on Tuesday. (Reuters)
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Kurdish PM Blames Baghdad over Wages as Protests Rage

The headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic party after it was burned during anti-government protests on Tuesday. (Reuters)
The headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic party after it was burned during anti-government protests on Tuesday. (Reuters)

The prime minister of Iraq's northern Kurdish-run region on Wednesday blamed the federal government in Baghdad for delaying crucial budget transfers as violent protests over salary payments left eight dead in the past week.

In the province of Sulimaniyah in recent days, hundreds have been protesting in multiple towns against two main Kurdish political blocs over public salary payment delays and perceived corruption. Iraq's semi-official High Commission for Human Rights says a total of eight protesters were killed in the areas of Chamchamal, Kefri Darbendikan, Khormal and Saidsadiq. Demonstrators burned down party headquarters and other public offices.

Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish-controlled region, said the right to peaceful protest was “vital” and condemned the violence as “unacceptable," in a statement.

“It is our shared responsibility to maintain the safety and security of everyone, including protesters and public and private property,” he said.

The protests are largely driven by angry unemployed youth and public sector workers who have not been paid because of a severe fiscal crisis. The Kurdish administration has only paid four months of wages since the start of 2020, and has deducted 21% from the monthly pay to public workers.

Barzani's statement blamed the federal government, saying it has not made budget transfers needed to make wage payments.

“For many months now we have worked hard to reach a fair constitutional settlement with the federal government," he said. “We have not left any excuses for Baghdad to fail to deliver its obligations to Kurdistan.”

Previous governments in Baghdad have withheld budget allocations to the Kurdish region as punishment for its independent oil export policy. Apart from the federal transfers, the region’s oil exports are its main source of revenue. Under a new agreement inked earlier this year, the Kurdish region was to receive a share of the state budget, in exchange for half its customs revenues.

The federal government, meanwhile, has been crippled by a severe liquidity crisis in the wake of spiraling oil prices that have slashed state coffers. Iraqi lawmakers passed a second emergency internal borrowing bill last month, enabling Baghdad to access $10 billion indirectly from the country's foreign currency reserves.

But the law's adoption sparked a political crisis between Baghdad and Erbil, where the Kurdish regional government is based. Kurdish lawmakers nearly boycotted the vote after some of the other lawmakers sought to halt allocations to the northern region's administration.

“We have shown our willingness in practice to work with the budget deficit law despite reservations on its content and the way in which it was passed,” Barzani said. “We expect reciprocal steps from Baghdad to reach and implement an agreement.”

The UN on Tuesday condemned the violence in Sulimaniyah, calling for an investigation and urging Kurdish leaders to “safeguard the freedoms of assembly and expression.”



Pro-Palestinian Protest Prompts Scuffle onstage at Royal Opera House in London

A detained demonstrator sits inside a police van, following a protest in support of the Palestine Action group in Parliament Square in London, Britain, July 19, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
A detained demonstrator sits inside a police van, following a protest in support of the Palestine Action group in Parliament Square in London, Britain, July 19, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
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Pro-Palestinian Protest Prompts Scuffle onstage at Royal Opera House in London

A detained demonstrator sits inside a police van, following a protest in support of the Palestine Action group in Parliament Square in London, Britain, July 19, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
A detained demonstrator sits inside a police van, following a protest in support of the Palestine Action group in Parliament Square in London, Britain, July 19, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

A performer holding a Palestinian flag touched off a brief scuffle on stage at the Royal Opera House in London on Saturday night as cast members were taking their bows following the season's final performance of “Il Trovatore.”

Images posted on social media show what appears to be a member of the chorus holding the unfurled flag in front of his chest while the lead singers bask in the audience's applause, Reuters reported.

After a few moments, someone backstage attempts to grab the flag, but the performer holds onto the banner and snaps back into place.

Singers were taking their bows after the end of the opera by Giuseppe Verdi. Director Adele Thomas’ production reinterprets the story of desire and an all-consuming curse, the opera said.

"The display of the flag was spontaneous and unauthorized action by the artist,'' the opera company told the BBC.

"It was not approved by the Royal Ballet & Opera and is not in line with our commitment to political impartiality.”