WATCH: Teachers in Sulaimani protest Iraqi PM for failing to deliver salaries

Teachers in the Province of Sulaimani on Tuesday went on strike and held demonstrations against Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider al-Abadi, for failing to deliver monthly salaries despite repeated promises.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) - Teachers in the Province of Sulaimani on Tuesday went on strike and held demonstrations against Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider al-Abadi, for failing to deliver monthly salaries despite repeated promises.

The demonstrators held banners written in Arabic, directed at Baghdad, which read, "Abadi, where are your promises? How long should we wait?"

The Kurdistan Region has been suffering from a financial crisis for the past few years as the Iraqi government cut Erbil's budget share at the start of 2014.

Abadi has repeatedly declared his intention to transfer the salaries of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) employees to the Kurdistan Region, but so far, the promise remains unfulfilled. The lack of salaries, despite an audit of the Ministry of Education by a delegation from Baghdad, prompted Kurdish officials to describe his statements as 'propaganda.'

"Enough [of this] siege on the people," one of the banners read.

"You have to differentiate between citizens' livelihood and political differences," Azad Aziz, a teacher who took part in the protest, told Kurdistan 24.

"Stop imposing sanctions on your people," another banner read.

Ties between Erbil and Baghdad considerably deteriorated after last year's Sep. 25 referendum on independence for the Kurdistan Region which saw an overwhelming majority favoring secession from Iraq.

Shortly after the vote, Baghdad imposed collective punitive measures against the Kurdistan Region, including banning international flights to the regions' two airports and carrying out a military operation to take over Kirkuk province and other disputed territories.

Nasreen, another demonstrator, told Kurdistan 24 that playing with and manipulating the lives of civil servants is akin to 'treason,' referring to the Federal Government of Iraq.

She mentioned that the banners were written in Arabic as previous demonstrations against the KRG did not lead to an improvement of the situation.

The Kurdistan Region's financial crisis worsened after the takeover of oil-rich Kirkuk by Iraqi forces in Oct. 2017, which reduced the Kurdistan Region's revenue by half as previously noted by KRG Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani.

The KRG has been unable to pay the salaries of government employees on time and has implemented austerity measures in hopes of overcoming the current crisis.

A delegation from Baghdad was sent to the Kurdistan Region to audit the number of government employees on the payroll, beginning with the Education and Health Ministries. The timing of the distribution of salaries by Baghdad remains unknown.

Editing by Nadia Riva