ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region leaders on Thursday sent out celebratory messages on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, expressing regret that the holiday has been marred by Baghdad's decision to cut the Region's civil servant salaries; a measure they labeled a “collective punishment” of the Region’s citizens.

The Iraqi finance ministry last week informed the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) that it will suspend funding the Region for the rest of 2025, claiming that Erbil had already exhausted its share of the annual budget.

Baghdad’s decision, deemed “a political decision” by Kurdish authorities, jeopardizes the livelihoods of the Region’s over one million salaried workers for the next eight months.

Kurdistan Region Prime Masrour Barzani congratulated Muslims around the world on the coming of Eid, sending out special holiday greetings to the Kurdish Peshmerga, members of internal security forces (Asayish), and families of martyrs.

“It is regrettable and deeply worrying that we are celebrating this holiday in a difficult financial situation due to the collective punishment of the Kurdistan Region's citizens by the federal government,” read the statement from the Kurdish premier.

“We assure you that the KRG will make every effort to overcome this situation and remove this unjust oppression against the salaried employees of the Kurdistan Region,” he added.

The KRG has repeatedly urged the Iraqi federal government not to use political issues between the two governments as an excuse to punish the Kurdistan Region’s civil servant salaries by withholding salaries.

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader and Former Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani also Muslims of the Region, Iraq, and the world on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, while comparing the Iraqi government’s “unjust and oppressive” measure to the Ba’ath regime’s violent atrocities against the Kurdish people.

“Cutting salaries and imposing a policy of mass starvation against the people of Kurdistan is no less heinous than the Anfal campaign, chemical attacks, and genocide committed by the former regime against the people of Kurdistan,” said the Kurdish leader

“But the will of the people of Kurdistan is stronger and more sublime than any injustice, crime, or Anfal,” he added.

Years of conflict and unresolved issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and economic sanctions and pressure on Erbil by federal authorities, have pushed employees in the Region to live from paycheck to paycheck.

“The issue of the salaried workers in the Kurdistan Region must be resolved through dialogue and understanding,” said Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in an Eid statement on Thursday. “We assure the people of Kurdistan that we will continue to defend their rights and pursue all constitutional solutions,” he added.

In early February, KRG’s Finance Minister Awat Sheikh Janab announced that they had reached an agreement with the Iraqi federal government to finance the salaries of the Region's civil servants for the entirety of 2025 "without any issues.” 

During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said February’s agreement is based on rulings from the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court which prohibit using budget issues between Erbil and Baghdad as an excuse to stop financing civil servant salaries, also noting that the Iraqi constitution has established the principle of treating all the people of Iraq equally.

The Iraqi parliament’s speakership on Wednesday called on Baghdad to reverse the decision as it is in violation of the Iraqi constitution and “will inevitably harm citizens in the [Kurdistan] Region and create an economic crisis.”

In a statement on Sunday, Iraq’s liberal National Line Movement expressed its “deep concern over the continued deprivation of Kurdistan Region citizens from their natural and constitutional right to receive their monthly salaries.”

The movement noted that Baghdad’s decision is not related to the federal budget tables, but rather “unjustified anxiety” over the KRG’s recently-signed multi-billion-dollar energy deals with American firms.

Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court announced on Sunday that a lawsuit has been filed by civil servants from the Kurdistan Region, demanding uninterrupted funding of their salaries on their specified dates as per a previous ruling of the court.