Baghdad has a problem with the Kurds, KSDP says
Shafaq News – Al-Sulaymaniyah
On Saturday, Muhammad Haji Mahmoud, secretary-general of the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party (KSDP), accused Baghdad of having a “problem” with the Kurdish people.
Speaking at a forum in Al-Sulaymaniyah, Haji Mahmoud, known in Kurdish circles as “Kaka Hama,” said brotherhood between Arabs and Kurds “has not been achieved in practice.”
He pointed to the ongoing dispute over public-sector salaries in the Kurdistan Region, noting that Baghdad had failed to fund at least three months of salaries in 2025.
The salary issue has been a recurring flashpoint between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region. Iraq’s Finance Ministry suspended salary transfers earlier this year, citing what it said was the Kurdistan Regional Government exceeding its share under the federal budget law.
Kurdish authorities rejected that explanation, describing the move as unconstitutional and a form of collective punishment against employees in the Region.
Haji Mahmoud’s party holds limited institutional influence following recent Iraqi parliamentary elections, in which the KSDP failed to secure any seats.
Read more: Kurdistan's unpaid wages: A crisis of trust and federalism
