On Sunday, violence erupted at a security checkpoint outside of the Kurdistan Region's capital Irbil after security forces prevented hundreds of protesting teachers from Sulaymaniyah and Halabja provinces from entering the city.
The teachers, who are still waiting to receive their December salary payments, told VOA it was their right to take their protests to Irbil as the capital of the Kurdistan Region. Police, however, said the teachers' request to protest was not approved by the Ministry of Interior, and used tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to disperse crowds.
Hardi Salah, a lawmaker with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, told VOA the incident highlighted the need for the Kurdistan Regional Parliament to amend the region's protest law, which he said allows authorities to prevent any gathering they deem a challenge to their authority.
But Muna Nabi Kahveci, the deputy head of the Turkmen Reform Party and former Kurdistan Parliament Secretary with close alliance to the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), denounced any attempt to amend the region's 2010 election law, arguing, "Protesters were barred from entering Irbil to avoid violent unrest."
