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A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- Last week Iranian intelligence officers (Ettelaat) arrested six Kurds from Marivan during raids that took place in the city and nearby villages. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) the Ettelaat officers did not have arrest warrants against the detainees. Last week, before the Newroz celebrations, the Iranian security forces were deployed largely in Marivan to prevent Kurdish gatherings and celebrations on the occasion of Newroz. On Saturday, also in Marivan, the city’s Islamic Court sentenced a 22-year old Kurdish man, Salman Afra, to five years in prison for “aiding” an opposition party. Since the beginning of 2019, 96 Kurds have been arrested by the Iranian regime.
- After deadly flooding due to heavy rain for more than a week in the southeast of Iran, two Kurdish provinces also suffered several fatalities and property damages. The flooding hit both Kermanshah and Ilam leaving hundreds of people homeless, which resulted in the death of at least three. In Mehabad city, a Kurdish group named “Restoring the Nature of Mehabad” launched a campaign to collect aid for the victims of the floodings, however, the government-backed Red Crescent threatened the organization to stop their activities and prohibited any organization other than the Red Crescent from collecting aid. In the past several years, the Kurdish city of Kermanshah suffered several earthquakes with significant loss of life. The Kurds in Kermanshah accused the Iranian regime of discrimination policies in helping the province to recover from these devastating natural disasters.
- Near Nowsud, the Iranian border guards ambushed a number of Kurdish border porters known as Kolbars. During the ambush one Kolbar was injured.
Iraq
- The new cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not been formed since the parliamentary election in September of 2018. The dispute mainly between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) continued despite signing understandings and reaching agreements last month. On Monday, the PUK held two separate meetings with the Islamic Union Party (Yakgirtu) and the Islamic Group (Komal) to discuss the formation of the KRG and the new presidential laws presented to the Parliament jointly by the KDP and the Change party (Gorran). On Monday, the PUK spokesperson Latif Omar, said that the response from the KDP “was not a real partnership response [to PUK demands].” Meanwhile, the Gorran block in the parliament praised the new proposal for the presidential laws which allows the Kurdistan President to be elected in the parliament not directly by the people. The head of the Gorran list in the Parliament, Ali Hama Salih, said that the PUK disputes with the KDP are over government positions, not the presidential laws. On Tuesday, the parliament postponed a planned session to Wednesday.
- After recent clashes between the Iraqi forces and the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) which resulted in casualties on both sides, the Iraqi government has given one month to all the armed forces to leave Shingal. The YPS is a local Yazidi force who were formed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) after ISIS attacks on the town in 2014. Additionally, a number of Iranian-backed militias are stationed in the Yazidi town since October 17, 2017.
Syria
- On Thursday, the Kurdish forces of the People’s Defense Units (YPG), which are the main part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), held public celebrations in several cities including Qamishli and Kobane after the defeat of ISIS territorial control in Syria. During the celebrations, several YPG and Kurdish officials vowed to liberate Afrin from the Turkish-backed Jihadi groups that invaded the region on March 18, 2018. Speaking to Alarabiyah the Co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Shaho Hussein said: “Without resolving the issue of Afrin and the return of its people to their homes, there will be no real solutions on the ground in Syria.”
- In Manbij, an attack by ISIS terrorists on a checkpoint resulted in the death of seven members of the Manbij Military Council (MMC). After the attack, accounts on social media belonging to ISIS claimed the operation. Meanwhile, the MMC released a statement of condolences to the families of the fighters lost in the attack and vowed to continue fighting terrorism. The MMC is part of the SDF.
- As the SDF still hold thousands of ISIS foreign terrorists, on Sunday, the Saudi government took back two teenagers who were kidnaped by their father in 2014 and joined ISIS. In a recent decision, the Danish government decided to refuse to grant citizenship to newborns in Syria by Danish parents. Previously the Kurdish authorities in Syria called the countries to either take back the foreign terrorists or to set up an international tribunal in Syria — an idea that France supports so far.
- On Wednesday, the third annual Syrian-Syrian dialogue forum launched in Kobane. A number of political parties and public figures participated in panel discussions about the Syrian crisis. The forum is hosted by the Kurdish dominated Autonomous Region of North and East of Syria.
Turkey
- On Sunday the provincial Turkish elections took place amid the continuation of arrests against members of the Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The preliminary results showed the HDP winning in 8 cities and 45 districts in the country. However, the HDP also suffered setbacks in Bitlis, Sirnak, Agri, and Mus. The co-mayoral candidate Sirri Sakik protested the early results and filed an appeal. Sakik said 2,500 votes for the HDP had been canceled as the ruling party of Justice and Development (AKP) candidate was declared the winner. In Kars city, HDP candidate Ayhan Bilgen won the mayoral position after defeating the joint candidate of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). With the election results, the HDP won back most of the mayoral positions they lost when the Turkish government sacked the Kurdish mayors and replaced them with trustees in 2016 as part of what is known as “Turkey’s Purge.” In Diyarbakir, thousands of Kurds went on the streets and celebrated the winning of the elections. Speaking to the crowd the co-chair of the HDP, Pervin Buldan, said: “The policy of the trustees has collapsed, has ended.” The Turkish ruling party suffered a significant loss in Turkey overall, the first defeat since they grabbed power in 2001 especially in the capital, Ankara, and the financial capital, Istanbul. Hundreds of HDP members remain in jails as they were arrested before the elections, including 60 on the eve of the elections.
- The hunger strikes by the Kurdish activists and HDP members continued as they demand the Turkish government to end the isolation of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and the political prisoners. The number of hunger strikers among the prisoners reached more than 400 in Turkey. On Monday, a fifth prisoner ended her life in protest of the Turkish government’s treatment after been on a hunger strike since March 1. Yonca Akici, who was charged with membership of the PKK, ended her life in her jail cell in Sakran-Izmir. Last week, Kurdish parties and politicians called upon prisoners to avoid suicide after four prisoners recently committed suicide.
Click here for the preliminary election results for the HDP.