SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ) MESOP NEWS FOCUS: TROUBLE AHEAD – KDP Warns of Plans for Violent Demonstrations in Sulaymaniyah – A political party is directing the demonstrations towards the KDP offices

  Basnews English – 14/01/2017 –  SULAYMANIYAH — Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has warned of a plan by “a political party” to incite violent acts in front of the party’s provincial leadership council in Sulaymaniyah province on Saturday.

In a statement issued late on Friday, the council, without mentioning a name, said that a political party is plotting violent demonstrations directed at the KDP bureaus, for which the months-long protests of educators is being misled. The plan comes in a crucial time when KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are drawing a roadmap in hopes of tackling the political deadlock and financial crisis in the region. The two major parties met on Thursday for closer cooperation and a solution to the prolonged hardship.

KDP also called on security forces in Sulaymaniyah to take every necessary measure to prevent the violent actions targeting the party, “or they should bear the responsibility for any incident and its outcomes.” Educators across Sulaymaniyah province have been staging regular demonstrations while going on strikes and halting the education process in the province during the last few months. They are protesting against the austerity measures by Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) which resulted in slashed salaries for public servants, including teachers. www.mesop.de