By Osamah Golpy

HALABJA, Kurdistan Region - Hundreds of activists, journalists, academics and non-governmental organizations released a joint statement Saturday to condemn recent violence in the Kurdistan region and call on the Kurdistan Regional Government and protesters for calm.

“Civil demonstration, strike and protest are the natural and legal rights of the people of Kurdistan. It is the only way for the people to demand their rights, and this right cannot and should not be rejected based on various excuses and justifications,” said the statement.

The Kurdistan region has seen a week of continued protests in the cities of Suliamani, Halabja, Raniyah, Kalar and various other towns.

On Friday, the protests became violent in the town of Qaladze, where two protesters were shot dead by unknown gunmen and at least 18 people were injured. Local health officials reported that 10 of those wounded suffered from gunshot wounds.

The statement said the current protests are the result of misuse of public wealth, injustice, corruption, lack of wages and the “irresponsible political rivalry between the political parties of Kurdistan Region concerning the post of Kurdistan presidency,” among other reasons.

Shwan Zangana, head of Complaints and Observation Organization who initiated the joint statement, said: “We had asked the government to solve the economic crisis and the political parties to reach a deal on presidency law. But nobody listened.”

“Unfortunately, the situation is now out of control, and the only things that can stop the violence are the payments of the delayed three months salaries, radical reforms, reaching a legal deal on presidency law and avoiding the misuse of the public wealth and resources,” he added.

Thousands of people took to the streets in Halabja this week to demand the unpaid three month salaries, a legal deal on the presidency law and social justice. The demonstrators held seven days of rallies and demonstrations without any violent incidents, but on Saturday protesters began hurling rocks at the local office of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party.

The political parties and Halabja authorities called on residents to remain peaceful and preserve the title of peace the city had earned.

The Kurdish parliament named Halabja the capital of peace in September 2014 for its sacrifices for the Kurdish cause.

“I hold the government responsible for all the violence that has happened,” said Nawshirwan Mohammed, a civil activist and an organizer of the Halabja demonstrations who is also a signatory to the statement.

“It is up to the government to meet the demands of the protesters and put an end to the violence.”

The joint statement puts forward the following seven points:

We condemn shooting at the civil protesters. We demand the shooters to be brought to justice as soon as possible and to be punished according to the Terror Law.

We support all civil demonstrations and civil activities and we are against the use of violence.

We call on the honourable people of Kurdistan Region to deliver their demands for rights in a civil way and away from violence, and not to allow any political party or persons to interfere in the grassroots protests for their own political and personal achievements.

The protection of the lives of the people and demonstrators is the [sole. Trans] responsibility the security forces of Kurdistan Region.

We demand that the political parties reach a deal according to the laws on the issue of the presidency of Kurdistan Region as soon as possible.

We demand the Kurdistan Regional Government to meet as soon as possible, announce radical reforms, solve the crises of the Kurdistan Region, and to solve the problem of wages, the livelihood of the people and the Peshmerga.

[We call on] the Kurdistan parliament to meet in the earliest time, and to play its legislative and monitoring role.

Rudaw