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A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- Three Kurdish border porters, known as Kolbars, were killed due to freezing temperatures near the Kani Khoda heights by Piranshahr city. The three Kurdish men are identified as Hussien Zada, Bahman Jasori, and Sirwan Pashank. Near Urmia by a crossing point, another Kolbar was shot and wounded on Friday. In Baneh, a Kolbar was injured after falling off a cliff while carrying goods. On Thursday, a Kurdish businessman Afsheen Lutfi, believed to have connections with the Kolbars, was killed by the Iranian military between Bijar and Zanjan after an ambush targeting him. On Monday Hengaw, an organization for human rights, reported the death of a Kolbar, Taher Drang, near Sardasht by direct shots from the Iranian border guards. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), since the beginning of 2019, 65 Kolbars have been wounded and 24 killed by the Iranian authorities. Recently the Kolbar occupation has become more popular due to the difficult living conditions and high unemployment in the Kurdish region.
- The Islamic court of Divandarreh city sentenced a Kurdish man Atta Husseini to seven years in prison for two charges: “insulting the holy idols” and “publishing false news.” In Mehabad city, the Iranian intelligence officers (Ettelaat) arrested a Kurdish man, Amanj Khosrawi, on Wednesday. The Etelaat did not disclose the reason for his arrest. The Etelaat also arrested two Kurdish environmental activists (Armeen Ayspeerlosi and Essa Faizi) in Sanandaj and Kamaran. In Shino (city of Oshnaviah) city the fate of a Kurdish man, Aso Girmini, remains unknown after one month of detention by the Ettelaat.
Iraq
- According to Rudaw, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Change party (Gorran) have reached agreement in regards to the formation of the Cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The agreement comes after the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the KDP agreed to establish a new position (Assistant President of Military Affairs) in the KRG presidency and grant it to the PUK, which was initially rejected by Gorran. The KDP-Gorran agreement will be the last public obstacle to form the government after 210 days since the Parliamentary elections.
- On Monday night the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi arrived in Erbil on an official visit to the Kurdistan region. Upon his arrival, Halbousi and his delegation were received by Massud Barzani, the former President of Kurdistan Region and the Head of the KDP.
- The Kurdish citizens of several Kurdish villages in Kirkuk province held protests against a decision by the acting governor of Kirkuk to remove the Kurds and replace them with Arab tribes. The two protests were held on Friday near Sargaran district and on Saturday near Bajwan sub-district. The protestors held banners praising co-existence and denouncing the reactivation of the former Iraqi regime policies of the demographic changes and Arabization. The Acting governor Rakan Al Jibouri was appointed by the Iraqi Government on October 16, 2017, after the Iranian-backed militias and the Iraqi forces took control of Kirkuk and removed the Kurdish forces from it.
- The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) conducted an operation near the Yazidi town of Shingal, west of Mosul, kidnapping four people. The Turkish media outlets close to the government reported that the four people are members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Syria
- A series of explosions by ISIS terrorists took place in the northeast region of Syria last week. In Manbij an IED explosion on a road resulted in property damage only. On Sunday, members of U.S.-backed Manbij Military Council (MMC) diffused an IED found near a road. On Monday a motorcycle explosion occurred near a soft drink factory south of the city. No casualties were reported. In Tabqa, a child was injured after an explosion of an IED in a market. In al Raqqa city, the former Capital of the ISIS “caliphate,” three civilians were killed and two were wounded after an IED exploded near a crowded street.
- The French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to support the Kurdish-led administration of North and East of Syria. On April 19, President Macron received a delegation of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Élysée Palace. In a statement by the Élysée, President Macron “hailed the decisive role played by the SDF” in the fight against ISIS terrorists. The statement also included France’s commitment to financial support to the region for the humanitarian purposes and the continuation of France’s support in the fight against ISIS.
- On April 18, thousands of displaced Kurds from the Afrin region protested the Turkish invasion and the “Russian silence” in front of the Russian Reconciliation Center north of Aleppo. The protests started after rumor of a new Russian deal with Turkey in Syria that would give Turkey a green light to attack a Kurdish region of Tell Rifaat and the countryside nearby where thousands of Kurds are displaced from Afrin. The displaced Kurds fear the repeat of the Afrin scenario when Russia allowed Turkey to attack the Kurds and occupy Afrin region. The spokesperson of the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) Nuri Mahmoud told Kurdistan24 that Russia has no more influence in the region. He criticized the Russian’s “silent acceptance” on the Turkish occupation in the region.
- On Monday, the Foreign Relation department of the North and East of Syria Region handed over five Sudanese children of ISIS parents to the Government of Sudan. The handover took place in Qamishli in the presence to the Sudani Plenipotentiary Badruddin Ali.
Turkey
- The hunger strikes by the Kurdish parties and activists in Turkey to end the isolation on the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and the political prisoners in Turkey continued. The Turkish police in Kartal district of Istanbul detained 14 people after they held a group protest to draw attention to the hunger strikes. In Ipekyolu district of Van a three-day protest to raise awareness of the hunger strikes took place by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The Turkish police attacked a gathering of mothers of political prisoners in Gebze city of Kocaeli Province. On Monday, the police fired rubber bullets against the Hunger Strike Commission which includes a number of representatives of human rights organizations in Ankara. The commission attempted to deliver a report about the conditions of the hunger strikers to the justice minister. On Wednesday, the police attacked a protest by the HDP in Bağlar district in Diyarbakir (Amed) resulting in a severe injury of two Kurdish lawmakers, Remziye Tosun and Musa Farisogullari. The HDP protest was against the Turkish Supreme Board of Elections’ (YSK) decision to sack the Kurdish mayoral winners of the recent local elections. The hunger strikes were organized by a Kurdish politician and a former lawmaker Layla Guven who continues to be on hunger strike for 168 days.