Shafaq News – Al-Sulaymaniyah

A group of civil activists staged a protest in al-Sulaymaniyah on Thursday to denounce the recent wave of security unrest in the city and to call for safeguarding public freedoms.

During a press conference, civil activist Bahauddin Bakr stated that the incidents that unfolded three weeks ago stemmed from political rivalries between competing parties in al-Sulaymaniyah, emphasizing that these events “do not reflect the aspirations of the city’s residents or the values of the people of Kurdistan.”

Bakr argued that the ongoing turmoil is the result of political parties' “failure” to effectively manage the region’s political system, leading to repeated outbreaks of violence and fatal confrontations. “Killings and violence have become recurring phenomena in the region,” he said, stressing that “freedom is a fundamental right of the people of Kurdistan. The people of the region live and breathe freedom, and this right must not be taken from them.”

Warning that the current climate “brings to mind the practices of the former Baath regime — killings, torture, and executions — and this must not be allowed to return in any form,” Bakr urged intellectuals, journalists, and independent politicians to unite their voices against assaults on civil liberties and democratic values.

He called on authorities to “adopt a path of dialogue and democracy in dealing with the people instead of resorting to violence and force.”

Earlier, al-Sulaymaniyah witnessed armed clashes between security forces and the guards of Lahur Sheikh Jangi, head of the “People’s Front” (Jabhat al-Shaab), following a court-issued arrest warrant, which resulted in the deaths of three people.