436
Iran
- The Iran-based Kurdistan’s Free Life Party (PJAK), an offshoot of Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was responsible for the deaths of eleven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers. The clashes took place Friday between PJAK fighters and IRGC members in the Kurdish village (Dari) near Mariwan city, Kurdistan Province. Both Iran and Turkey have been bombarding the Kurdistan Region targeting Kurdish opposition groups. Turkey criticizes the lack of cooperation between Iraq and Iran to secure the border, justifying its own military incursions into the Kurdistan region against the PKK.
- Amid Iran’s increased level of crackdowns against Kurdish activists and opposition groups, on July 17th, well-known Kurdish activist Eqbal Muradi was assassinated in the town of Penjwin in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He was found with seven gunshot wounds after his body had been pulled from a river. Muradi, a long-time member of the Kurdistan Human Rights Association, was targeted by the Iranian government. Muradi’s son, Zaynar, is currently a political prisoner on death row in Iran.
- The Iranian government has executed ten Kurds in this past week alone. International efforts to halt the execution of Kurdish activist Ramin Hossein Panahi, continue.
- Under consideration are plans between the Kurdistan Region and Iran to build a $650 million industrial city. Construction will soon begin by two Iranian and Kurdish firms that are reportedly contracted to build the city near Parwezkhan (one of the three international borders between the Kurdistan Region and Iran. This project has the full support of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) which says that it supports its trade partner, Iran, whose firms in the Kurdistan region create hundreds of local jobs.
Iraq
- In Kirkuk, 11 people were wounded by roadside bombs. The peshmerga had largely removed the ISIS threat from the area, but following October 16, 2017, when Iraqi forces took over the city, militants have increased their activity. The declining security situation has led to increased cross-party calls to bring back the Peshmerga to join Iraqi Security Forces to protect the area.
- Three armed terrorists infiltrated and took hostages in the governor’s building of Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s capital, Erbil, Monday morning. All three gunmen were killed in a clash with security, one hostage died from injuries, and four security personnel are wounded. So far, no group has taken responsibility for the attack. All three hostage-takers were teenagers from Erbil.
- For the first time since the May 12 elections, despite the lack of official results of the recount, winning blocs went to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region to continue efforts to form the new government. Delegations from the Fatah Alliance and the State of Law Coalition (led by former president Nouri al-Maliki met with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) earlier this month. KDP spokesperson said that a condition for it allying with the Shiite bloc would be holding to article 140 of the Iraqi constitution which will normalize the status of the disputed territories between KRG and the federal government.
- Installation of solar panels to power Mamrash refugee camp in Duhok, Kurdistan Region, is 95% complete. A German organization provided the €700,000 in funding for the panels that will produce 370 kV to help power the camp. It is expected to be up and running in the autumn.
Syria
- The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced successful advances against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Deir ez-Zour governorate, in the east of Syria, as part of the ongoing Operation Jazeera Storm. The goal of the operation is to liberate the eastern pocket of ISIS control in the Al-Hasakah and Deir ez-Zour governorates. So far, the SDF has been successful in expelling the terror group from Al-Hasakah, and are making headway on pushing it out of Deir ez-Zour, having liberated 16 villages in the surrounding area. The SDF statement noted that as ISIS loses ground, many of its members are turning to insurgency tactics, using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and ambushes to combat the encroaching Kurdish forces. In light of the SDF’s successful campaign in the east of Syria, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement commending “the bravery and sacrifice of the Syrian Democratic Forces”.
- The SDF clarified that the Tabqa Dam on the Euphrates River will not be handed back over to Assad’s Syrian Arab government. The misunderstanding was a result of the SDF’s decision to allow employees of the government-owned Euphrates Dam Company to return to operate the facility. Security and ownership of the dam will remain in the hands of the SDF. Tabqa Dam is the largest in Syria and is capable of producing large quantities hydroelectric power, while simultaneously irrigating the surrounding farmlands and providing fresh water for residents. The reopening of the dam is a major development for the area and Syria as a whole.
- The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have launched new attacks in the Afrin area against Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed jihadi groups. This comes as the SDF diverts almost 2,000 soldiers from the Deir ez-Zour front to Afrin. Turkey and its proxies have occupied Afrin, a city in the countryside of the Aleppo governorate, since late March after a lengthy battle against the YPG. Turkey claimed the city was being used as a base by ISIS and other terror groups, despite the fact that ISIS never had a presence in the city. Strategically, the YPG has pursued asymmetrical tactics against the Turkish invaders, utilizing hit-and-run tactics and knowledge of the local area to their advantage. The YPG has been fighting as a resistance force within the city, inflicting numerous casualties on the Turkish soldiers and jihadis, which they view as occupiers in the city.
Turkey
- People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair, Sezai Temelli has made statements asserting that the HDP will not be squeezed or intimidated, in parliament or in Turkish society as a whole. He outlined the goals of the HDP in this parliamentary session, and how the party will hope to go about attaining them. Temelli mentioned the deepening economic crisis, state repression against the party, and the lack of clarification on the nature of the new Turkish government system.
- In Ankara, Selahattin Demirtaş, jailed HDP presidential candidate, received his 3rd hearing since his arrest in November of 2016. The court ruled he will remain imprisoned on charges of “founding and managing a terrorist organization” and promoting “terrorist propaganda”. There has been no formal trial since his arrest, and most previous attempts to appeal have been denied. Demirtas won 8.4% of the popular vote in the presidential election, with the HDP receiving 11.7% of the parliamentary vote, allowing accession into the Turkish Supreme National Assembly.