Kurdistan Weekly Brief June 21

Turkey (Bakur or North of Kurdistan)

Hansjoerg Haber the European Union’s envoy to Turkey resigned over tensions of the migration deal. Also Kati Piri, the European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Turkey said “”The European Parliament will never sign the visa agreement if you (Selahattin Demirtas) or your colleagues (HDP parliamentarians) are imprisoned.” During a panel discussion in the EP Foreign Relations Committee in Brussels Addressing HDP Co-chair. EU’s tension with Turkey grew more in the past year over migration, Kurdish conflict and freedom of speech.

Clashes continue in between the Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in south east. Clashes broke out in Gevas of Van province, Shemdinli of Hakkarri province, Lice district of Amed province (DiyarBakr), Mush of Mush province Pervari district of Siirt province and Shirnak province. According to PKK media, Turkish Aerial bombards targeted Lice district. Meanwhile Kurdistan Communities’ Union (KCK) stressed that “the Kurdish Freedom Movement will have no talks with any political power unless the Kurdish existence is clearly recognized and the free and democratic living of Kurds is accepted.”

Ankara Public Prosecutor called for 486 year prison of the Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas. As part of Turkish government efforts to strip HDP’s elected representatives of their immunities, “criminal records” will be presented against Demirtas. In June 15, police raided our Co-Chair Figen Yuksekdag’s house and carried out a search.

Turkish authorities detained three prominent journalists for their role in a campaign of solidarity with the pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem newspaper. The three journalists are Erol Önderoglu, Turkey’s representative for media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders, RSF); Şebnem Korur Financı, president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT); and journalist and author Ahmet Nesin.

Syria (Rojava or West of Kurdistan)

Manbij Liberation Operation (Day 21): Minbij Military Council (MMC) part of Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) are 700 meter away from the city after freeing Hamdoun Farm village. The MMC announced after 15 days of the operations hundreds of ISIS fighters have been killed and tens of villages have been liberated. MMC published footage of a tunnel used by ISIS to hide from the air strike by the U.S. led coalition. ISIS terrorists kidnaped four Kurdish siblings of one family in addition to dozens of youths in Mahsina village in the countryside of Manbij. In an interview with CNN Brett McGurk said” we are running a massive operation now in Syria in Manbij which is the network and planning center of the organization and we believe those who launched Paris and Brussels attacks passed here, we are besieging the city now and will break into it soon”. Refugees continue fleeing the city to MMC controlled areas.

On June 19, a suicide car bomb occurred near Kendi park in Qamishli, targeted a Syriac patriarch’s vehicle. The attack resulted death of two and injury of several from the Souturo forces (Syraic Christian forces).

ISIS arrested 700 civilians in country side of Jarablus, Azaz and alBab in the northern Aleppo province. Factions of Syrian rebels bombarded Shekh Maqsoud district northern Aleppo resulting in death of nine civilians. Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM) warned of possible massacres in Shaba areas (Northern Aleppo) and accused rebel groups backed by Turkey to commit crimes against Kurdish civilians. Meanwhile more than two thousand displaced people entered Afrin canton.

The Co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) said that residents of the freed areas will decide their form on governing. He said “if the freed areas are willing to join the Federation, they are welcome”.

Iraq (Bashur or South of Kurdistan)

The United Nations recognized the genocide committed by ISIS against the Yazidis. The Chairman of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry for Syria said” Genocide has occurred and is ongoing” and “ISIS has subjected every Yazidi woman, child or man that it has captured to the most horrific of atrocities,” he said in a press statement issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Kurdistan region President Massud Barzani held a meeting with Falih al-Fayadh, the Iraqi National Security Adviser and Mr. Brett McGurk, President Obama’s Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The participants discussed the liberation operation of Mosul city. Barzani also praised the Iraqi forces liberation of Fallujah town.

On June 18, a car bomb hit the Patriot Union of Kurdistan branch in Tuz, south of Kirkuk. Two civilians lost their lives during the attack. ISIS also launched massive attacks on villages south of Tuz in areas controlled by Popular Mobilization Units resulting in death of the head of Tuz police and his deputy.

Kurdistan regional Government (KRG) spokesperson said that KRG is ready to reach an agreement with Baghdad regarding oil exports if Baghdad provides monthly payments of one billion dollars to Arbil. Since March Iraqi government stopped oil exports via Ceyhan pipeline. Also On Kurdistan’s energy, during St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, KRG Prime Minister met with Alexander Novak, Russian Minister of Energy. According to a statement by KRG, the meeting discussed corporation in energy field in between Kurdistan region and Russia.

Iran (Rojhelat or East of Kurdistan)

Peshmergas of Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) clashed with Iranian revolutionary guards in Shino and Sardasht on June 16 & 17. The clashes led into death of several Iranian guards according to KDPI statement. The KDPI leader Mustafa Hijri said “The Islamic Republic wants to show an Island of peace in the war zone of the Middle East by using force and violence against different voices inside the country including Kurds and other nations.”

Mohammad Abdollahi, an Iranian-Kurdish prisoner on death row in Orumiyeh Prison in northwestern Iran, has been on hunger strike since May 29, 2016 to protest his imminent death sentence, a source informed about the case told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.