By Idris Okuducu
SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (AA) - Thousands of civil servants on Monday staged demonstrations in the city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region to protest delayed salary payments and perceived local government corruption.
Protesters converged on the city center, shouting slogans against both the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and the central government in Baghdad, demanding that the former pay their overdue salaries.
“We’re asking the [Kurdish regional] government to improve the situation faced by civil servants and put an end to the public salary crisis,” protester Sadik Omar told Anadolu Agency.
“We have reached the end of our tether,” he said.
Monday’s demonstrations were not confined to the city center.
Suburban districts of Sulaymaniyah -- including Halabja, Chamchamal and Said Sadik -- also witnessed protests on Monday by angry civil servants.
Sulaymaniyah is a bastion of the Kurdish region’s leading opposition parties, particularly the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Gorran Movement (Movement for Change).