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A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- To prevent Kurds from celebrating the Newroz holiday, the Iranian regime deployed more security forces in the major Kurdish cities and provinces. Further, in Noorawa county of Lorestan province, security forces raided a gathering by a group of Kurds trying to hold Newroz celebrations. During the raid, a number of people were arrested, while the security forces prevented any celebrations to take place. On Tuesday, the security forces and the Iranian intelligence officers (Ettelaat) raided a Newroz celebration in Malekshahi county in Ilam province. During the raid, the security forces prevented the organizers to hold any Newroz gatherings, while threatening to arrest the attendees. On Wednesday the security forces stopped another Newroz celebration by a group of Kurds in a village, Hassan Noran near Oshnavieh city (Shino). Newroz is celebrated by several nations including Persians, however, for the Kurds is coincides with revolutions and uprisings against the state repressions.
- A Kurdish border porter (Kolbar) lost his life in the Hawraman region due to a heart attack. The Kolbar, Aref Adak was carrying goods between Nowsud city in Iranian Kurdistan and Tawella in Iraqi Kurdistan. Last week, three more Kolbars were injured when the Iranian border guards shot them on three different incidents in Urmia, Kermanshah, and Kurdistan provinces.
- Arrests of Kurdish civilian activists continued by the Iranian regime. The Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) reported the arrest of a Kurdish civilian activist Wali Naser in Sanandaj city. Wali was taken by security forces to an undisclosed jail location, while no charges have been made public yet. On Friday, another Kurdish labor activist was detained by the Iranian security forces in a village near Sanandaj. Meanwhile, after the fourth month of the arrest of an environmental activist, Homayoun Bahmani, his fate is still unknown as security forces have not declared his arrest yet.
Iraq
- The two winning parties of the parliamentary election continue to hold meetings to reach a final agreement to form the new cabinet. On Sunday, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) held another meeting to finalize the share of the new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ministerial positions. In a joint statement, both parties stated their commitment to successful negotiations in regards to forming the government. The joint statement also announced holding another meeting this week. The third winner of the elections, the Change Party (Gorran) is working with the KDP on a new amendment for Kurdistan’s new presidential law, which aims to change the general presidential election to vote for the president in the parliament. The parties are waiting for the KDP-PUK’s final agreement to take the bill to the parliament for discussion and voting. The talks for forming the new cabinet have taken six months, the longest time to form any KRG so far.
- After the tragic incident of a sinking ferry that resulted in the death of at least 100 people in Mosul, the KRG joined the federal government in declaring national mourning for several days, which began on Friday. The KRG also canceled all the planned Newroz celebrations.
- In Kirkuk, the Iraqi security forces allowed the Kurds to celebrate Newroz on Wednesday, but only for two hours. After the celebrations ended, the security forces set up a checkpoint inside the city of Kirkuk to remove flags of Kurdistan from vehicles. In the west of Kirkuk, some members of ISIS terrorists attacked Alas oil field, which resulted in minor damage of the oil field. ISIS activities have increased in Kirkuk province since the Iraqi forces with Iranian-backed militias took control of Kirkuk and removed the Peshmerga forces on October 2017.
- On Monday a heavy rainfall caused flooding in the Kurdistan region. A bridge connecting Karal city to Darbandikhan fell. Most of the rain and resulting floods took place in the capital Erbil, which damaged roads and homes.
Syria
- On Saturday, March 23, the U.S. backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared victory over ISIS in Syria. The SDF declaration came after the last stronghold of ISIS in Baghouz town was liberated by the SDF on March 21. The SDF, with the participation of the U.S. led coalition and the Department of State, held a victory ceremony. During the ceremony, the General Commander of the SDF, Mazloum Kobane, announced that 55,000 square kilometers have been liberated by the SDF since 2014 and five million people have been freed of ISIS ruling. Kobane also announced that 11,000 members of the SDF have been killed while more than 21,000 wounded during the war against the terror group. Kobane thanked the U.S. led coalition for their support during the fight against ISIS and demanded the continuation of the support to fight the ISIS ideology and sleeper cells. During the ceremony, William Roebuck, the State Department’s Senior adviser for Syrian Affairs said: “We still have much work to do to achieve an enduring defeat of ISIS.”
- On Tuesday, March 20, the SDF announced freeing seven more Yazidi Kurds from ISIS in Baghouz. The Yazidis included five women and two children who were captured and enslaved by ISIS terrorists in 2014. Meanwhile, the Autonomous Region of North and East of Syria (AANES) handed over three children of Russians origins to the Russian government. The AANES captured about one thousand foreigner terrorists in Syria. On Monday the AANES demanded help from the international community to set up “a special international tribunal to try ISIS terrorists.” The SDF captured more than 5,000 terrorists in the past month in Baghouz town.
Turkey
- Millions of Kurds celebrated Newroz in Turkey despite the government’s bans and restrictions. Major celebrations were held in Istanbul, Diyarbakir (Amed), Mardin, Van, Cizre, and other cities. During raids by the Turkish police on the Kurdish cities, about 150 people were arrested. In Diyarbakir, the police detained 110 Kurds who participated in the Newroz celebrations on Thursday. In Istanbul, 28 people were arrested by the police after thousands of people celebrated Newroz. The Newroz gatherings were participated by lawmakers of the Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). In different speeches, the HDP lawmakers called the people to go out and vote against the ruling party of Justice and Development (AKP) on Sunday’s local elections in Turkey.
- The hunger strikes of the Kurds in Turkey continued amid more casualties among the strikers who demand to end the isolation of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and the political prisoners in Turkey. On Sunday, a third Kurdish political prisoner ended her life in her prison cell this week to raise awareness of the hunger strikes. Zehra Saglam was jailed for connections with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in her prison cell in Erzurum province. On Monday another Kurdish female prisoner, Medya Cinar, ended her life as well.
- As the Turkish local election campaign heats up, more hate crime were recorded against the HDP and the Kurdish activists. In Karsiyaka district of Izmir province, six Kurdish homes were marked with an X by ultra-nationalists. The house belongs to Kurdish activists and campaigners for the local elections. In Sapanca district of Sakarya Province, the HDP office was attacked on Sunday by unknown people. The attack damaged the building without human casualties. In Kadikoy district of Istanbul, a police patrol attacked an election campaign stand of the HDP and detained five people. The police demanded the HDP members move their stand. Later the police arrested the HDP members and confiscated their flyers.