PM Barzani describes Iraq’s top court decision on KDP headquarters ‘farce’
Prior to the court’s decision, members of the Shiite militia forces staged a sit-in for over a week in front of the building.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani described the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court’s Sunday decision on recovering the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) former headquarters in Kirkuk as a “farce”.
“Today's ‘federal court’ decision is a farce,” Barzani wrote on X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
Today's ‘federal court’ decision is a farce -mb.
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) September 3, 2023
The Court decided to stop the implementation of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani’s decision to hand over the current Iraqi Joint Operations Command center to the KDP, which previously conducted its political affairs inside the building prior to the 2017 military takeover of the city by Iranian-backed Shiite militia and Iraqi military.
Prior to the court’s decision, members of the Shiite militia forces staged a sit-in for over a week in front of the building, demanding that the building must not be returned to the ruling Kurdish party, which has ceased all its operations in protest of the military rule in the city.
Kurdish protesters, affected by the closure of the Erbil-Kirkuk main road for several days, protested on Saturday afternoon at the city’s popular Raheemawa street, resulting in casualties among the protestors. At least four Kurdish protestors were killed while 14 others were wounded.
The protests ended when the militia members reopened the main road, whose closure had negatively impacted the livelihoods of the local population.
The militias’ protest comes as the political parties, including the KDP, are set to run in the provincial elections in December. The Kurdish parties won the majority seats of the Kirkuk provincial council in the last election.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs to register the killed protestors in Kirkuk as “martyrs” and provide medical assistance to the wounded, the spokesperson announced.
