Shop owners near Tahrir Square close businesses ahead of Tishreen anniversary protests
Merchants and printers in Bab al-Sharqi near Tahrir Square temporarily closed their shops after security notices ordered closures and banned printing slogans, ahead of protests scheduled for Sunday, October 25.
Merchants in the Bab al-Sharqi area of central Baghdad, near Tahrir Square, closed their shops today, Saturday, and suspended their activities temporarily in response to calls by activists to hold demonstrations coinciding with the seventh anniversary of the Tishreen protests.
Owners of flex-printing shops, illuminated-advertising printers and photographers said they received security notices ordering them to close their shops until the anticipated protests end tomorrow, Sunday, October 25, in Tahrir Square and several other locations.
They added that the notices included a strict ban on printing any slogans or banners targeting the Iraqi government, and that shop owners must comply with these instructions for the duration of the protests.
Footage recorded the closure of printing shops and nearby stores and showed them empty of shoppers and commercial activity after their owners received the security notices.
No immediate comment was available from Iraqi security authorities regarding those notices or the measures planned during the protests.
Squares in central Baghdad and other provinces are seeing calls to prepare and organize mass demonstrations on Sunday, October 25, in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, with calls for a million-strong turnout, coinciding with the seventh anniversary of the resurgence of the Tishreen protests in 2019, which began in early October and then resumed forcefully on the 25th of that month.
The Tishreen protests in 2019 experienced repression and violence that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of protesters and injuries to thousands, along with a number of activists being subjected to arrests, kidnappings and assassinations.
