KRG condemns ‘unacceptable’ attacks on Iraqi tourists visiting Kurdistan

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Saturday “strongly denounced” a series of assaults on tourists from southern Iraqi provinces who came to the autonomous region for the New Year’s holidays.

“Recently, a number of unacceptable incidents occurred, foreign to the traditions and social norms of the Kurdistani society, in which a number of wrongdoers targeted tourists from Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces who had come to the Kurdistan Region to spend their new year holidays.”

One of the incidents involved a number of young men and some tourists outside Erbil’s Family Mall on New Year’s Eve, according to Erbil’s acting governor, Hemin Said Qadir. The young locals pelted stones at the cars of the tourists and smashed their windows following a traffic accident, Said Qadir explained in a statement on Saturday.

Only some police officers were wounded during the brief standoff, as they detained several of the young men, the acting governor noted, adding that investigations were ongoing to determine others involved in the assault.

He also reassured Erbil residents—locals, tourists, and displaced persons—that the incident was “spontaneous and not premeditated.”

Prime Minister Barzani added in his statement: “I strongly condemn these reprehensible attacks, which are at the polar opposite of our society’s high moral values.”

“The Kurdistan Region continues to be a safe haven for millions of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Iraqi provinces, as well as neighboring countries, and welcomes tourists and guests from across the world without prejudice or discrimination.”

“The Kurdistan Region welcomes, with love and respect, hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. These recent events are aberrant and foreign to Kurdistan’s culture of peaceful coexistence and tolerance of different ethnic and religious groups.”

“I reaffirm our unwavering commitment to hold accountable to the fullest extent of the law individuals trying to undermine our culture of tolerance and forgiveness,” he concluded.