Peregraf
Protesting teachers and civil servants have issued a call to various social strata and opposition parties in the Kurdistan Region to reignite protests against the withholding of their salaries. They designated Thursday as the day for demonstrations, declaring, "The lack of wages has brought disaster to everyone’s lives and livelihoods, so we have decided to break the wall of silence."
Public Employees in the Kurdistan Region have yet to receive their May salaries due to the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) non-compliance with the decisions of the Iraqi federal government and the laws of the Iraqi Parliament, including the Iraqi federal "Tawteen" system, which would standardize salary payments through federal banks.
During a press conference held this evening, Sunday, June 21, 2025, in Sulaymaniyah, representatives of the protesting teachers and civil servants appealed to all parties, particularly the Kurdistan Region’s opposition factions, stating, "We demand that officials engage responsibly with the suffering people and move beyond rhetoric on screens and in statements."
The protesters emphasized their intent to pressure KRG authorities—through renewed demonstrations—to either distribute salaries or forward employees' data to Baghdad to facilitate payment processing under the Iraqi federal government system also known as Tawteen.
The salary crisis in the Kurdistan Region has escalated since late May. The Iraqi Federal Finance Ministry has cited the complete depletion of the Kurdistan Region’s 12.67% share of the 2025 federal budget as grounds for halting transfers.
In a letter dated May 28, Finance Minister Taif Sami also criticized the KRG for failing to adopt the federal "Tawteen" system, which would standardize salary payments through federal banks. Meanwhile, public employees in the Kurdistan Region continue to wait for May salaries after three weeks into June, with only four months of payments made so far in 2025.