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A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- “The Iranian authorities carried out a shameless campaign of repression during 2018, crushing protests and arresting thousands in a wide-scale crackdown on dissent…a year after a wave of protests against poverty, corruption and authoritarianism erupted across the country,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director. The recent report on January 24 by Luther also addresses the Kurds and other minorities in Iran who are facing “human rights abuses including discrimination and arbitrary detention.”
- On Thursday Kurdish municipality workers in Marivan city held a three-day protest in front of the city’s municipality building for not receiving their salaries for almost two years. The Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) reported that some of the Marivan city workers have not received payment in 21 months, while others in 10 months.
- On Monday the Iranian intelligence officers (Etelaa’t) arrested a prominent Kurdish historian and a researcher, Naser Amenikhwa in Kermanshah city. The Ettelaa’t officers searched his home and confiscated his personal belongings including his laptop, cellphone, and notebooks. In Sanandaj and Piranshahr two Kurds were arrested for “aiding Kurdish opposition parties.” Further, a Kurdish civilian activist in Sanandaj, Mokhtar Zeraa’y, was sentenced to prison for three years for “insulting the Supreme Leader.”
- Recent toll confirms the death of nine Kolbars, or border workers, and tens more injured since the beginning of 2019. Last week one Kolbar was killed by the Iranian border guards near Maku city. The Hengaw Organization for human rights reported that Hussien Aqdam was shot by the Iranian guards on Monday despite not carrying any goods. On Tuesday near Sardasht city, a Kolbar was shot and wounded by the Iranian border guards. His injuries resulted in losing one leg. Meanwhile, one Kolabr was injured when a mine exploded on Sunday near Baneh and one was injured after falling off a snowy cliff in Hawraman region.
Iraq
- Due to Turkish airstrikes, six Kurdish civilians were killed near Amedi district in Dohuk province. On Wednesday the first airstrike killed four people. While the family of two of the victims was trying to recover bodies, another Turkish airstrike killed the search team and left two more people dead. Since the 1990s the Turkish government has used the pretext of targeting elements of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), however, over ten civilians have been killed every year. The spokesperson of the Peshmerga forces told the Voice of America that the Turkish government had launched 823 airstrikes on the Kurdistan region in four years. On Saturday, hundreds of angry Kurdish protestors stormed a Turkish military base near Sheladiz sub-district. The Protestors raided the Turkish base while the Turkish elements inside the base killed one protestor and wounded 10 more. The Kurdistan Regional Government said in a statement: “We express our concerns regarding today’s events.” The KRG also accused “a disruptive hand behind these events.” Two days after the protests, the KRG security forces detained tens of Kurdish activists and shut down a media outlet that was covering the protests. In a reaction to the Turkish violence, the Foreign Ministry of Iraq denounced the Turkish violence against Kurdish civilians and summoned the Turkish Ambassador in Baghdad.
- On Tuesday, a scheduled meeting on the formation of the government between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) was canceled due to PUK’s request, reported Rudaw. The KDP and the Change party (Gorran) also agreed to have a multilateral meeting with the PUK to hold serious talks about the government formation.
- In Kirkuk, hundreds of military trucks arrived as the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Units (CTU) will be replaced by Brigade 61, a special division who are linked to the Prime Minister’s office directly. The Kurdish demands remain in place for the Peshmerga forces to return to the northern part of the province and have a joint operation with the Iraqi forces. The Kurds have also requested from the new Iraqi government to end the martial laws in Kirkuk and return the security file to the local police.
Syria
- The Syrian Democratic Forces backed by the U.S. led coalition cleared another strategic village al-Baguz Foqani, while ISIS active fighters are trapped in few square miles. The SDF seized more weapons in the area including an armory which was set with explosive devices to target the SDF. Meanwhile, the SDF captured several ISIS members hiding inside the fleeing families from ISSI controlled areas. As ISIS caliphate is collapsing, many ISIS terrorists surrounded the SDF including the foreign ISIS fighters. .
- In Manbij, the SDF with the U.S. military forces raided a house and captured a sleeper cell of ISIS. The ISIS groups are believed to be behind the explosion of a restaurant two weeks ago targeting American troops and Kurdish forces. In Al Raqqa city, an IED explosion resulted in the injury of four civilians.
- In an interview with Bloomberg in Washington, the executive director of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Ilham Ahmed, said: “If we were cornered into choosing between a Turkish militia attacking our areas, and reaching an accord with President Bashar al-Assad, we would go with the regime.” Ahmed also told the AP that the United States is working to broker a deal between the Kurds and Turkey.
Turkey
- After more than two months of a hunger strike by a Kurdish political prisoner Leyla Guven to end the isolation of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, the Turkish court released Guven on condition. Guven’s hunger strike was also followed by thousands of Kurds and Kurdish political prisoners held hunger strikes across Europe and Turkey. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called the Turkish government to end the isolation of the political prisoners including Ocalan. “The Committee calls upon the Turkish authorities to make sure that all prisoners at Imralı Prison are able, if they so wish, to receive visits from their relatives and lawyers,” read a report by PACE.
- Several Kurdish candidates for the local election in March were detained by the Turkish police in Shirnak. The detainees included the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) candidates in Cizre city.
- The Turkish court in Istanbul has sentenced a prominent intellectual Dr. Yonca Demir for signing a document alongside tens of other academics denouncing the Turkish government’s war on Kurds and calling for peace. The peace document was signed in January of 2016 and the Turkish government had prosecuted tens of intellectuals for “terrorist propaganda.”