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A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- On November 28, Iranian border guards ambushed a group of Kurdish border porters, known as “Kolbars,” near Kani Khoda Heights outside Piranshahr City. The border guards shot and killed one Kurdish Kolbar and injured another, while two more remain missing. According to the Kurdish rights group Hengaw, November of 2018 was the bloodiest for the Kurdish Kolbars as eight were killed and 17 were injured, some severely by the Iranian regime. On Sunday, December 2, the Iranian security forces of Baneh City arrested a Kurdish cleric over his criticism of the Iranian regime for its killing of the Kolbars. In addition, the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) reported that Sheikh Saadi Baqi, the Imam of Tarkhaan Awa mosque, was arrested by the intelligence office (Ettela’at).
- After a series of general strikes that took place in the Kurdish region by various working-class residents in the past year against harsh living conditions and poverty, the municipality workers of Bijar city held a strike last week. The street cleaners demanded their payments as they have not been receiving salaries for months. According to a report by the KMMK, the general strike continued for several days which led to the accumulation of waste in the residential and commercial areas of the city.
Iraq
- The talks among the Kurdish parties to form the new cabinet saw some progress. On December 3, the leadership council of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP 45 seats) held a meeting. After the meeting, the KDP spokesperson Mahmood Mohammed announced Masrour Barzani as the KDP’s candidate for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) prime minister. The KDP also announced that the current prime minister of the KRG, Nechirvan Barzani, would be the party’s candidate for Kurdistan’s presidency in a future election. In reaction, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK 21 seats) spokesperson Saadi Pira held a press conference and stressed “respect” for the KDP’s decisions. Pira also announced that the deputy prime minister (DPM) position will be granted to the PUK. The PUK will be holding a political bureau meeting to determine the candidate for the DPM. The Change Party (Gorran) will likely get the speakership of the Parliament position and other opposition positions in the KRG if they participate in the government. The KDP and the PUK are still competing for the Kurdish share in the central government of Iraq’s composition, in order to receive the position of the Justice ministry.
- The U.S.-led coalition launched airstrikes against ISIS targets between Kifri town between and Tuz-Khurmatu district. The airstrikes also supported joint ground troops composed of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army. The operation resulted in the elimination of several ISIS terrorists. Since October 16, 2017 the security of Kirkuk province and areas of Diyala deteriorated after the Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed militias remove the Peshmerga from the area.
- In Kirkuk, a historic Market, BazarI Qaisary, burned down. The market contained 360 stores, 168 of them Kurdish owned with the rest owned by Turkmen and Arabs. Those guarding the market at the time have been placed under arrest. It remains unclear what caused the fire. The Turkish government will rebuild the market, which originated during the Ottoman Empire’s control of the area.
- The Public security forces known as “Asayesh” have shut down the main offices of the political party of Tavgari Azadi in Sulaymaniyah province. The decision came after the party did not obtain proper permission to operate in the Kurdistan region. The party is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraqi Kurdistan. In reaction, the party denounced the move and argued that they did obtain the permission of establishment from Iraq’s Interior Ministry in 2014. The party will be filing an official complaint to Iraq’s federal court.
Syria
- Clashes continued between the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and ISIS terrorists in the eastern Euphrates near Hajin City. On Friday, ISIS terrorists attacked the SDF on three fronts near Hajin, al Baghouz, and al-Soussa. The attacks were repelled by the Army of Rebels (Jayesh al Thwar), an Arab dominated faction of the SDF who also fought in Kobani in 2014. ISIS attacks included the use of at least 10 car bombs. By Friday night, the SDF liberated tens of civilians who were trapped by ISIS while they were trying to flee from ISIS-controlled areas near al Soussa. Though Hajin town remains under ISIS control, the SDF made more advances north of the town. Since September 11, the SDF, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, launched a new military operation to liberate the remaining towns and villages on the Syria-Iraqi border east of the Euphrates.
- North of Manbij city, Turkish-backed Jihadi groups attacked guard posts of the SDF. The Jihadi groups also imposed a curfew in a village near al-Helwangi village. Despite the U.S.-Turkish joint patrols, tensions remain high between the Turkish backed Jihadis and the SDF.
- In response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov regarding eastern Syria and the Kurds, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) released a statement describing the Russian remarks as “suspicious and disturbing.” The SDC statement rejected the Russian remarks saying: “We in MSD, as a political party seeking to resolve the Syrian crisis peacefully and democratically. We consider the Kurdish cause as a national issue that must be resolved in accordance with the international conventions. It must be dealt with constitutionally within the framework of Syria’s unity.” On December 2, Lavrov criticized the U.S. role in eastern Syria, saying “unacceptable things are happening on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River” and “the US is trying to establish quasi-state structures.” He also described the U.S. presence as a very dangerous game, taking into account that the Kurdish issue is vital to a number of regional states.
Turkey
- Two weeks after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to demand the release of the jailed former Co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas, the Turkish court of Ankara ruled in favor of the “continuation of detention”. Prior to the court’s decision, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the ECHR ruling does “it is not binding for us.” The Turkish court decision against Demirtas raised anger among the Kurdish population and the HDP party. “This is clearly a violation of the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights,” read a statement by the HDP. They called for the “immediate release” of Demirtas.
- With the Turkish provincial elections taking place on March 19, 2019, the HDP is attempting to regain the majority in the Kurdish region after the ruling party of Justice and Development (AKP) removed tens of Kurdish mayor and local administrators in Turkey’s purge in 2016. The AKP announced their coalition with the ultra-nationalist party (Nationalist Movement Party MHP). The HDP said they are “stepping up the work” before the elections. Meanwhile, tens of HDP lawmakers and party officials are starting a hunger strike inside the Turkish parliament against the isolation and imprisonment of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. Last week the Turkish police raided the office of a local Kurdish party, the Democratic Society Congress, for launching a hunger strike in Marsin.