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A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- In Ramsar town of Kamyaran city, the Iranian intelligence officers (Ettelaat) arrested a Kurdish environmental activist Jalal Rostami. After two days of investigation, Rostami was transferred to the Ettelaat jail in Sanandaj. On Friday, the security forces arrested a Kurdish man, Zanko Ameri, near Saqqez city for “aiding Kurdish opposition parties.” Ameri was transferred to prison by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) 84 Kurds have been detained by the Iranian regime since January 1, 2019.
- After a trial court sentenced Kurdish activist Farshad Abbasi in Urmia to five years imprisonment two weeks ago, the Appeals Court of Urmia reaffirmed the sentence on Wednesday. Abbasi was charged of “membership of Kurdish opposition parties,” a charge he has denied since his arrest. In Kermanshah, the Appeals Court affirmed the 10-year sentence of another Kurdish man, Massud Kiani. The Iranian Ettelaat office detained Kiani on April 2018 in Tehran airport as he returned to visit his family from studying in the Ukraine. The Iranian regime accused Keyani of “spying for Israel.”
- In Sarableh City in Ilam Province, a group composed of employees and workers held a protest in front of the municipality office demanding the long overdue payment of their salaries. In the past year, more than 50 protests have been held in the Kurdish region by employees from different governmental departments after the regime’s failure to pay the salaries of many employees.
- On Sunday, near the Sardasht border with Iraqi Kurdistan, a Kolbar (i.e., Kurdish border porter) Shaker Pour Khaled died of hypothermia after snowy and freezing conditions on the mountains. On the same day near Nowsud town, Iranian border guards shot another Kolbar, severely wounding him. Since the beginning of 2019, about 60 Kolbars have been injured and 18 killed, mostly at the hands of Iranian border guards.
Iraq
- Despite the signing of a political agreement between the current ruling parties, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), disagreements over the distribution of government positions prevented the formation of the government. The PUK is demanding “real partnership” in the new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its demands include positions in the KRG’s Presidency and Prime Minister councils. A senior KDP official told Rudaw that they have given the PUK a deadline for the government to be formed by end of March.
- On March 13, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S. State Department released its annual “Country Reports Human Rights Practices” for 2018. Regarding Iraq, the report acknowledged the “abuses and atrocities” by Iranian-backed militias on October 17, 2017 in the disputed territories between the Kurdistan region and the Iraqi central government. According to the report, “the government’s reassertion of federal authority in disputed areas bordering the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), after the Kurdistan Region’s September 2017 independence referendum, resulted in reports of abuses and atrocities by the security forces, including those affiliated with the PMF.” The report also shed light on the unlawful arrests by the militias against Kurds and other minorities in Kirkuk and Ninewa province.
- On Sunday night clashes occurred near Shingal (Sinjar) on the borders of Iraq and Syria between the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) and Iraqi government forces controlling the area. The clashes took place near a checkpoint while a convoy of the YBS drove near an Iraqi checkpoint. The clashes resulted in the death of four, two on each side, and the injury of six. The Iraqi forces took control of Shingal on October 1, 2017. The YBS, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was formed in response to ISIS’s brutal genocidal campaign against the Yazidis in 2014.
Syria
- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued clashes in the last pocket of ISIS-controlled area in Baghouz town. More ISIS terrorists, including wounded ones, and their families surrendered to the SDF on March 15. On March 16, the SDF announced the death of 16 ISIS terrorists after “violent clashes.” The clashes continued until early Tuesday as some of the ISIS terrorists were determined to fight on. In a press conference, the SDF announced the overall outcome since the start of the liberation operation of Baghouz and nearby districts on January 9, 2019. “The number of families of terrorists who surrendered to our forces was 29,600, including more than 5,000 terrorists.” said the SDF spokesperson Kino Gabriel. In the press conference, the SDF also said that 82 members of the SDF were killed and 61 were injured. On the ISIS death toll, the SDF and the U.S. airstrikes resulted in the death of 1,306 terrorists while 34,000 civilians have been evacuated. Last week’s ISIS resistance included counter attacks by car bombs. On Tuesday afternoon, the SDF liberated the main camp of Baghouz while ongoing clashes continued.
- The Foreign Relation Spokesperson of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Kamal Akef said they had handed over five children of ISIS parents who were killed in the battles in Baghouz. The children’s parents were French citizens. Akef also revealed their efforts and contacts with other European governments to hand over more children of ISIS terrorists. The five French children were based in a camp for displaced people.
- On the first anniversary of the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish region of Afrin, thousands of people protested in northern Syrian cities and abroad. The protestors chanted slogans against the Turkish government and their Jihadi factions, who stand accused of massacres and atrocities against the Kurdish region of Afrin since March 18, 2018. Meanwhile, the Turkish-backed Jihadi administration of Afrin banned the celebration of Newroz on March 21. The invasion of Afrin resulted in the displacement of 400,000 Kurds and Christians.
- The Assad regime’s Defense Minister recently threatened the Kurdish-held areas, saying they will either be “liberated” or be forced to reach reconciliation. Ayoub also called on the U.S. troops to leave Syria.
Turkey
- After the Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu’s announcement that Turkey would be holding joint military operations with Iran against the PKK, an Iranian official denied that the Iranian government was engaging in such joint operations. Since March 2018, the Turkish military has deployed more troops into the Kurdistan region of Iraq while conducting weekly airstrikes on Qandil mountains, the headquarters of the PKK.
- Mass hunger strikes by Kurds demanding the end of the isolation of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and other political prisoners continued into its fourth month. On Sunday a Kurdish political prisoner Zulkuf Gezen hanged himself to death in his Tekirdağ prison after being on a hunger strike. Gezen had been in prison for 12 years on charges of “membership of the PKK.” Several Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers attempted to visit his grave but Turkish police prevented them and buried Gezen without the presence of his family and friends. The police later attacked the HDP lawmakers with water cannon. In Van, more political prisoners joined the hunger strikes, resulting in 215 in total hunger strikers. In Diyarbakir (Amed), police orchestrated two more raids on HDP offices, resulting in the arrest of three members who are participating in these hunger strikes.
- After several attacks on the HDP election centers, on Saturday a motorcycle fired 5 shots at the HDP Siirt election building.