The protests began on Sunday at the University of Sulaimani and were met with a crackdown as police used electric batons to disperse the crowd. But the protests have continued, growing in size every day and spreading to other cities and towns across the Kurdistan Region.
The internal security forces (Asayish) issued a statement on Wednesday about the video “in which someone hurts a protester in an illegal and inappropriate way.” They said they have made an arrest in connection with the incident.
The protests began with students demanding restoration of a living allowance. The government used to pay a monthly stipend of 40,000 to 100,000 dinars ($27 - $67) per student. It was one of the expenses the government cut when it introduced austerity measures like salary cuts to cope with the financial crisis caused by the war with the Islamic State (ISIS), low oil prices, and budget disputes with Baghdad. Without the funds, some students have problems buying food or paying for accommodation.
But the allowance is just the start of a long list of grievances.
“The allowances was basically the match that starts the fire. We are demanding better services. We are demanding the removal of political influence from university affairs. We are demanding a better education system,” Ahmed*, one of the protesters, told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
Student representatives on university councils are often picked based on their affiliation with political parties. Classes are often overcrowded or frequently interrupted because teachers go on strike over unpaid salaries.
At a conference on education in September, government officials acknowledged that the quality of education needs to be improved and the whole system needs an overhaul. The public education system largely focuses on theory and practical study is limited, often because of lack of equipment. “The education system in the Kurdistan Region needs repairing and reform in a way that fits today’s scientific and universal standard scale,” Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said at the conference.
Footage of tear gas deployed against students in Sulaimani.
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) November 24, 2021
Now into their fourth day in Sulaimani, demonstrations began as a call on the government to reinstate student allowances, with further protests today in Erbil, Kalar, Rania + Halabja.
READ MORE: https://t.co/WtcKsQMRi3 pic.twitter.com/fucIhCvLq1
On Tuesday, over 5,000 students were making their way down Sulaimani’s central Salim Street where they were confronted by dozens of security forces fully equipped with teargas, rubber bullets, and water cannons waiting for them in front of the headquarters of the province’s ruling party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“We were very peaceful and up to that point we had not touched anything on our way,” said Ahmed. “Once we got close to the PUK’s headquarters, security forces stopped us from proceeding further.”
“When they saw the large number of students, they started throwing teargas canisters into the crowd to disperse them,” he added.
Salim Street quickly filled with clouds of teargas in a violent showdown between security forces and students.
“There was extensive use of tear gas and water cannons. Many students were falling on the ground and were affected by the gas. Two of our team members were also affected by the gas,” Mohammed Salih, a member of the civil society organization Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), told Rudaw English on Tuesday.
Dark smoke soon rose from the office of the PUK, but the students denied any involvement in the fire.
“Students could not even get that close to the office, and students had no Molotov cocktails to set fire to the building. What was done was a political agenda. They had sent undercover agents of themselves into the protesters only to later say that the students are saboteurs,” said Salih.
Students said security forces fired both rubber bullets and live ammunition.
The Asayish, in its Wednesday statement, said unnamed forces were trying to manipulate the students. There were “some people and sides trying to misdirect the protests for political gains by creating chaos and tension.”
The students insist that their protests are spontaneous and their destination on Tuesday was Sera Square, the frequent site of protests in the city.
“There’s no single organizer or leader in these protests. It was spontaneous. We are dormitory students and early in the morning we had students knocking on our doors saying come out to protest,” Ahmed said, adding that though security forces blocked them from reaching Sera Square, “it might still be our final destination.”
The square was the epicentre of mass anti-government protests in 2011 and has since become known as Freedom Sera.
On Wednesday, the students made it to Sera Square where video shared on social media shows students running from heavy gunfire.
هەموو شتێ لە باریکیا ئەبسێ
— ئــارام (@Aram__10) November 24, 2021
بەس زوڵم لە ئەستوریا pic.twitter.com/QPcnVzSomz
Shaswar Abdulwahid, the head of New Generation, an opposition political party that performed well in last month’s Iraqi parliamentary election, tried to join the protesters, but footage on social media showed students telling him to leave.
The students insist their protests will remain peaceful and without any political affiliation.
“The protests are owned by students. No political party or figure is allowed to claim they control it and they will not be allowed to make a hero of themselves,” protester Hamid Abdulrahman told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
The PUK on Tuesday expressed support for the students’ demands and called on security forces to not use force. “We ask security forces to hold themselves and not use violence against protesters, because their demands are rightful,” said PUK spokesperson Amin Baba Sheikh.
This is not the first time Sulaimani students have protested. In March, grade 12 students gathered in front of the education directorate calling for education reforms. Security forces fired live ammunition into the air to disperse them.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet met on Wednesday and decided to provide funds for the ministry of higher education to make improvements in order to meet protester demands. It is not clear how much money will be provided, but government spokesperson Jotiar Adil told reporters “it will be spent in a way that is in the favor of the students.”
After being chased out of Sera Square, the protest then moved down Mawlawi Street, going back in the direction of Salim Street. Students say they will continue until their demands are met.
“Students are not saboteurs. We have not wrecked anything and have even cleaned up the roads after ourselves. We will continue until every single demand is met,” Abdulrahman said.
*Names have been changed at their request to protect their identities.
