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Turkey (Bakur or North of Kurdistan)
- Turkish police raided several offices of Peace and Democratic Party (BDP) in several provinces and detained members of the party. According to reports by Turkish media 6 members in Van Province, 9 members in Mush Province, 5 members in Amed (DiyarBaker) Province and unknown numbers in Shirnakh been arrested within one day of the raids.
- 23 soldiers, including 12 specialist sergeants, have resigned from Turkish army due to the military operations south east of Turkey leading to death of 200 civilians since July 2015.
- Bomb and missile attack hits Chınar police headquarters in Amed (Diyakbaker) which left the five-story building completely demolished. People’s Democratic Party’s Co chair condemned the bombing by saying” whoever did it should apologize”
- Over a thousand academics for peace who have been targeted intensely for the last one week over the ‘We will not be a party to this crime’ declaration, have released another statement in the face of the attacks they have faced for demanding peace against war. The academics are now facing pressure and legal actions upon an instruction by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who called them “traitors” and “so-called intellectuals”.
Syria (Rojava or West of Kurdistan)
- A number of Arab residents of Maryamin village in Afrin Canton, joined Kurdish AsayIsh (Security forces) in order to defend their village. After the liberation of the Maryamin village by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from al-Nusra terrorists, the Asayish opened up a center to maintain the village’s security. Having witnessed the inhumane demeanor of Al-Nusra terrorists on the one hand and the selfless, humanitarian attitude of the Asayish forces on the other hand, a large number of Arab volunteers have swollen the Asayish forces’
- 392 Kurdish Refugees in Turkey returned to Kobani after Turkish authorities’ temporary opened Murshid Binar border point to those seeking return to Kobani.
- PYD co-chair Salih Muslim arrives at Geneva to attend Geneva 3 conference. In a statement to the press, Muslim stated that their participation in the conference is not yet confirmed. “If we are not invited to attend, we will not stick to any decision made in the conference,” Muslim added. The Geneva 3 conference is set to address Syria’s crisis and help the main two participating sides, the Syrian regime and the opposition, start negotiations under the care of the United Nations on Jan 25, 2016.
Iraq (Bashur or South of Kurdistan)
- During a press conference in Washington both of Dr. Fuad Hussein, the Chief of Staff of Kurdistan’s President and Mr. Falah Mustafa, KRG’s Minister of Foreign Relations stressed the dire financial situation in Kurdistan caused by the drop of oil prices and the expenses of the war against ISIS. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) delegation stated that Peshmerga forces have not been paid salaries for 3 months in addition of hundreds of thousands of government employees due the financial crises in Iraq and
- Prime minister of the KRG and his deputy held several meetings with ministries of education and health addressing the financial crises in the region while ongoing political crises among the political parties did not reach any agreement.
- Peshmerga forces and U.S coalition ISIS positions near Makhmour sub-district south of Arbil. U.S jets bombed Nasir village west of Makhmor based on intelligence information killed 12 terrorists and wounded several others.
Iran (Rojhelat or East of Kurdistan)
- Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) Boycotts the upcoming elections, which are supposed to be held on February 25, 2016. In a statement published on its official website, the PDKI points to the implausibility of holding a “genuine and democratic election under the Islamic Republic regime” and calls upon Kurds and all other Iranians to boycott both the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections.
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