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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 injured by the Iranian border guards on 23 and 24 of May in Nalous heights near Oshnehav city. Near Piranshahr a Kolbar was severely injured after he fell into an ambush by the Iranian guards on Sunday. Last week’s attacks on the Kolbars raised their casualties to 40 killed and 80 injured since the beginning of 2019.
- The Iranian intelligence officers (Etelaat) arrested three Kurdish activists in Sanandaj on Thursday. The activists are identified as Riza Mohammadi, Rebwar Manbary, and Adris Manbary who are members of a cultural and linguistic organization. On Sunday the Etelaat arrested three more Kurds in a village near Sanandaj. No information has been released by the security forces for the reasons behind their arrest. In Marivan a civil society organization reported that the activists who were arrested two weeks ago are under physical torture by the Etelaat office. The activists were detained after they protested domestic violence against women in Marivan.
- A group of drivers and workers protested for six months of unpaid wages in Urmia. The protesters gathered in front of the municipality of Urmia. Recently the protests have increased across Iran and the Kurdish region against the policies of the Iranian regime for the poor living conditions and the mismanagement of the public wealth.
- On Wednesday, Kurdish students of Kurdistan University in Sanandaj protested against remarks and statements by the head of the Basij forces of the University against the Kurdish culture and traditional clothing. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), Anab Joibar, the head of the Basij made remarks insulting the Kurdish culture which stirred up anger among the Kurdish students. The Kurdish students called upon the regime to respect the multi-ethnicity and culture in Iran.
Iraq
- On Tuesday the Parliament of Kurdistan held its session to elect the President after agreements were reached among the parties. After the voting, Nechirvan Barzani, the candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), won the voting of the lawmakers to become the second President of the Kurdistan region. In addition to the KDP, the Change Party (Gorran) also voted for Barzani. However, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) boycotted the session due to disagreements with the KDP over the issue of Kirkuk and electing a Kurdish governor for the province.
- In Kirkuk, more landforms have been burned by ISIS (Daesh) terrorists especially in Daquq District. Daesh terrorists have previously threatened to burn farms of those who refuse to pay “tax” to them. On Saturday, a Kurdish police officer was killed by an IED after he arrived near agriculture crops that were burning in Daquq. The burning of the farmlands also took place in Hawija district. In addition, the Kurdish farmers of Kirkuk have faced threats from Arab tribes relocated during the former regime to take over the Kurdish lands once again by force after the acting governor of Kirkuk, who was appointed by Baghdad, attempted to restart Arabization policies in the province.
Syria
- During a Congressional hearing for the House of Foreign Relations, the U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement Amb. Jim Jeffery said that the Kurds only future Is part of peaceful Syrian state. In regards to the buffer zone between the Syrian Kurds and Turkey, Jeffrey said: “We are trying to establish a buffer zone that we have not yet defined, but the local forces will be in charge of it. Turkey will have control points and America will have a role.” Meanwhile the veteran Kurdish politician Saleh Muslim blamed Russia for not reaching a political solution in Syria.
- In Kobani city, about 70 acres of farmland were set on fire near the Syrian Turkish border. Prior to Kobani, wheat fields were set on fire in Raqqa. Last week Daesh terrorists claimed responsibility for burning farmland in Iraq and Syria.
- The Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (AANES) started the return process of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) from al Hol camp in al Hasakah province. The return process will be for those who are mostly from al Raqaa and al Tabqa. The AANES decision came after a meeting was held in the camps with the management and tribal leaders call for the families to return to their homes after its liberation. Al Hol camp currently hosts 73,000 thousand IDP which also includes thousands of families of Daesh terrorists.
- On Saturday a twin explosion hit Raqqa city resulting in the injury of one civilian and property damage. The IED explosions targeted the main road and a hospital. In the Christian town on Tel Tamer, a suicidal motorcyclist resulted in property damages only. A commander of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Kuran Tal, said the military campaign against the remains of Daesh continues. The SDF had launched a campaign two weeks ago to capture sleeper cells of the terror organization after a series of assassinations and bombing.
- According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the Turkish military is building concrete walls around the Syrian Kurdish city after they occupied it last year. The SOHR also reported about a new wave of Turkish-backed Jihadist groups continuing to kidnap and displace the Kurdish residents of Afrin and harass them.
Turkey
- On May 22, two lawyers of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan were granted permission to visit him. On May 27, the two lawyers held a press conference and released Ocalan’s message. In his message to the hunger strikers, Ocalan thanked them and called them to end the hunger strikes. “In light of the wide-ranging statements my two lawyers will be making, I expect the protests, especially of the comrades who have committed themselves to hunger strikes and death fasts, to come to an end. I would like to express that your intentions with regards to me have been realized and I present to all of you my deepest affections and gratitude,” said Ocalan. The lawyers said, “Mr. Ocalan reminded that the permission to have these meetings did not mean the presence of a negotiation process.” Ocalan has been banned from visits by his lawyers since 2011 when the Turkish government accepted a peace process between the Kurds and the Turkish government engineered by Ocalan. After Ocalan’s calls to end the hunger strikes, which lasted 200 days and focused on ending the isolation imposed on Ocalan and the political prisoners, hundreds of Kurdish activists in Turkey and Europe ended the strikes. Several people were hospitalized after ending the strikes due to health complications.