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Iran
- Within the recent raids and shootings on Kurdish border workers (Kolbars) by the Iranian regime, last week two more Kolbars have been wounded by direct fire by Iranian guards in Chaldiran region. According to Kurdistan Human Rights Association one victim (Mohammed Haiderlano) had to be transformed to a hospital in Warmia due to his critical injuries.
- Political prisoners in several facilities in Iran protested the death sentence against a young Kurdish man, Ramin Panahi, after the Iranian regime accused him of being a part of a banned Kurdish party. Panahi’s case attracted the attention of international organizations including Amnesty International as his trail was not fair. Meanwhile the Iranian regime have executed another Kurdish political prisoner, Mohamed Salas. “We are shocked and saddened to announce that Muhammad Salas was executed this morning. We’ll have more later but for now we are reposting our press release from yesterday, which details our concerns regarding his grossly unfair trial,” said a statement by Amnesty International.
- In an interview with Pro-Iranian regime news Agency, Tansim, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson, Safeen Dizayee, rejected the use of force by Kurdish opposition groups against Iran and Turkey from the Kurdistan region of Iraq. “We have urged those (armed) groups and have warned them that they have no right to use the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s soil (for moves) against our neighbors, namely Iran and Turkey,” the said Safeen Dizayee the KRG spokesman after Tehran made a formal complaint to the KRG on Wednesday about “terrorist” movement across the border between the Kurdistan region of Iraq and Iran. Since 1991, Iran’s Kurdish opposition parties have been based in Iraqi Kurdistan and areas on the border with Iran.
- The Iranian regime is communicating with Turkey about a possible military operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Qandil Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan, near the border with Iran. Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi asked Turkey to “respect Iraqi sovereignty,” saying Turkey was purposefully escalating tensions for domestic reasons. Last week Turkish military launched a military campaign inside Iraqi Kurdistan against PKK controlled areas.
- On June 11, the Swedish and Norwegian ambassadors to Iran visited the Kurdish province of Kermanshah, meeting with the governor, Houshang Bazvand, not just to observe the damage done by the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that devastated the area in November, but also to follow up with the humanitarian aid mission. The earthquake was the deadliest of 2017, killing over 620 people and injuring up to 12,000. The Iranian government refused aid from Turkey, Japan, Qatar and Georgia when they offered days after the event, but Sweden donated €200,000 in aid to those affected, and is willing to continue that assistance with advanced medical equipment. The affected Kurdish population complained about the government response to the disaster.
Iraq
- Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has given up revising voter registration lists and is starting the effort anew using food ration forms from December 31, 2017, expecting to cut out 100,000 names that are either duplicates or of the deceased. In light of the growing concern about voting fraud since the Iraqi parliamentary elections, the Kurdistan Region’s electoral commission will have completed the new voter list in time for Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections scheduled for September 30.
- Peshmerga, police and security forces protested in the streets of Sulaymaniyah on Wednesday, June 13, against the annulment of their votes in the Iraqi parliamentary elections held May 12th. Parliament, on account of concerns of fraud, ordered a manual recount. Iraqi federal courts say they can do nothing to prevent the annulment of votes.
- Iraqi Kurdistan’s first and only airline launched its inaugural flight on Monday, June 18, to Sweden. The airline, Fly Erbil, delayed by ISIS which caused a fall in investments, currently has three aircrafts for its regular flights to Europe and the crews provide their services in the Kurdish language.
- Angelina Jolie, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Special Envoy, commended Iraqi Kurdistan as “a model for this kind of humanitarian assistance,” and that it has “played a very good role in supporting these vulnerable people.” The speech was given before Jolie visited the Domiz refugee camp near Duhok. World Refugee Day is Wednesday, June 20th. Iraqi Kurdistan cares for nearly 2 million refugees and internally displaced peoples (IDPs) from within Iraq. According to a KRG spokesperson, the KRG and UNHCR agreed “to find creative initiatives beyond material support” until refugees and displaced persons can return to their homes, “voluntarily with respect and dignity.”
Syria
- The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by US-led coalition airstrikes liberated Ad-Dashisha, the last major ISIS stronghold in Eastern Syria. ISIS still holds many small settlements to the South of the newly liberated town, but this victory is a major success for the SDF and its allies. Dashisha has been the goal of the ongoing Operation Jazeera Storm which is targeted at eliminating the remaining ISIS presence in the East of Syria. So far, the operation has freed dozens of villages from ISIS brutality, and looks to liberate the rapidly decreasing number of settlements still occupied by the Islamic State.
- On the 17th of June, state news reported that airstrikes on a Syrian Arab Army position in southeastern Deir ez-Zour governorate killed at least 52 Syrian soldiers and pro-government militia, predominantly Iraqis and Iranians. The perpetrator of the airstrikes is as yet unknown, with the Syrian government blaming the US-led coalition, an assertion denied by the United States.
- Turkish military convoys have moved into the hinterland of Manbij from the North as part of the ongoing Turkish Operation Olive Branch, which in January saw the violent seizure of the city of Afrin from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Shervan Derwish, spokesman of the Manbij Military Council has issued a statement clarifying that Turkish forces have not entered the city limits. The Turkish army, as of yet, has adhered to the division of territory established in their agreement with the United States last week. The agreement designated areas of Turkish and US military-control around the city, to be patrolled by each group’s respective security forces, as the People’s Defense Units (YPG) pulled out. The River Sajur, a small tributary of the Euphrates, has been delineated as the tentative border between the two zones. The Manbij area has become a buffer zone between Turkey and the SDF, which leadership hopes will prevent Turkish incursion into Kurdish territory east of the Euphrates River.
Turkey
- Hostility and outright violence towards HDP members and events in Turkey continues as the election approaches. Even sympathizers of the HDP and Kurdish minorities are not safe, as two CHP members were brutally stabbed on the island of Buyukada near Istanbul while trying to protect a Kurdish HDP stand from a group hurling racial insults and burning HDP flags. The two young CHP supporters attempted to intervene against the attacks and were stabbed as a result, before being arrested by police. According to witnesses, police did not detain any of the attackers. This confrontation comes in the wake of multiple attacks against HDP stands, with little to no police investigation of the perpetrators. In Kocaeli, 6 HDP members were injured after a mob of nationalists threatened and assaulted their election stall. Despite having video evidence of the attack and those responsible, the police have yet to launch a formal investigation. Kocaeli was also the site of President Erdogan’s recent speech in which he called for the quick trial of HDP presidential candidate Demirtaş, and said, if allowed, he would utilize the death penalty on his opponent over his role in 2014 protests, in which Demirtas was never formally charged.
- The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) presidential candidate and well-known Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtaş gave his first televised address from prison in Edirne, Turkey. In a speech heard by millions across the globe, Demirtaş condemned Erdogan’s consolidation of power and the climate of fear and intimidation he and his party have created in Turkey. There are concerns that polling for the upcoming election will prove unreliable as many Turkish citizens are untruthful in their responses, for fear of reprisals from police and pro-Erdogan street gangs. Demirtas has criticized Erdogan’s paranoia and belligerency, claiming the Turkish president is “afraid of his own shadow”. The deteriorating economic situation in Turkey as well as the escalation of Turkish presence in Syria has made this election one of the most important in recent history.