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Iran
- Iranian security forces killed four Kurdish border porters known as Kolbars and wounded five last week. On Thursday, the Iranian military opened fire on a vehicle in Sanandaj city and severely injured the driver who was accused of working with Kolbars. On the same day, Iranian border guards killed a Kolbar near Mako, which is located near the Turkish-Iranian border. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), a Kolbar named Khaliss Hamidzada was tortured by Turkish forces before he was sent to Erzurum hospital where he later died. Iranian border guards also attacked a group of Kolbars near Piranshahr, killing one named Adris Waissi. Simultaneously, Iranian security personnel shot and wounded a Kolbar near Sardasht on Saturday. On Sunday, Iranian security forces ambushed a group of Kolbars and wounded one in the Saqqez Valley and in a separate incident, killed a 22-year-old Kolbar named Rebwar Omarzada near Urmia Heights. The Iranian regime has killed 64 Kolbars and injured at least 114 since the beginning of 2019.
- The fate of four Kurdish political activists detained by Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) in Urmia remains unknown since their arrest in early September. Three of the four activists, Farhad Noori, Safar Noori, and Parwez Noor, are from the same family and remain jailed without trial. Ettelaa’t previously arrested the four activists for “aiding one of the Kurdish opposition parties.” In Sanandaj, an Islamic Revolutionary Court began the trial of jailed Kurdish language teacher Zara Mohammedi. Mohammedi had been detained for months and accused of membership of a political party, though the Nozhen organization, which she works for, denied the allegations and claimed “her only sin is teaching the Kurdish language.” Likewise, in Ilam, a prominent Kurdish author and poet named Ali Mohammed Mohammadi was sentenced to four years in prison by an Islamic Revolutionary Court. Mohammadi was charged with “disrespecting the Imams.”
- Three people from Sanandaj and Kamyaran committed suicide last week. 64 inhabitants of Iran’s Kurdish region have committed suicide in 2019 due to poor living conditions and various social issues.
Iraq
- Last week, the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohamed al-Halbousi visited the Kurdistan region and met with Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) officials. These officials included Speaker of the Parliament Rewaz Fayeq, President Naichvan Barzani, and Prime Minister Massrour Barzani. The meetings focused on the Kurdish region’s relationship with Baghdad and outstanding issues between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Government of Iraq, including the KRG’s allocated budget for 2020. The KRG also recently announced a new round of talks with Baghdad, which will probably address significant points of disagreement between the two sides like revenue from oil sales and the fate of the “Disputed Territories.”
- A delegation from the KRG’s Department of Foreign Affairs joined an envoy from the Government of Iraq in attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Separately, the Kurdish governors of Duhok, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah accompanied Prime Minister of Iraq Adel Abdul-Mahdi on a visit to China that focused on strengthening Iraqi-Chinese economic ties. That said, the exclusion of Halabja’s governor from the delegation sparked anger from Kurdish lawmakers in the province. Though the Government of Iraq officially accepted Halabja as a province in 2016, it routinely fails to recognize its provincial status.
- ISIS (Da’esh) attacks continued in the “Disputed Territories” of Kirkuk and Diyala. Near Khanaqin, Da’esh terrorists burned down three Kurdish homes in Ma’adan village. At the same time, in Kirkuk, talks between the Kurdish parties and the province’s non-Kurds are slated to resume. The Kurdish parties’ primary focus is hashing out an agreement on the election of a new governor for the province. Kirkuk Province continues to be plagued by political unrest and a deteriorating security situation since Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed militias seized it on October 16, 2017.
Syria
- On Monday, the United Nations announced the formation of a new Syrian constitutional committee tasked with eventually creating a new Syrian constitution. The committee will be comprised of 150 representatives, including 50 from the Syrian regime, 50 from opposition and extremist groups, and 50 selected by the United Nations. Granted, the constitutional committee excluded the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (AANES) that controls 40% of Syrian territory. The United States welcomed the formation of the committee, while political entities in the AANES released a statement that said, “A constitution that we did not participate in its drafting will not represent us and we will not recognize its results.”
- Efforts between Turkey and the US-led coalition to establish a “safe zone” (AKA Security Mechanism) remained ongoing with continuing coordination between the two entities and joint US-Turkish patrols along the Syrian-Turkish border. That said, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again threatened to unilaterally invade the region while Turkish-backed jihadists launched indirect fire attacks targeting the suburbs of Tal Rifaat which resulted in property damage. Simultaneously, Christopher Maier, Director of the Defeat-ISIS Task Force Office of the Secretary of Defense, reaffirmed the continuation of military support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), stating, “We continue to provide weapons and vehicles specifically designed for the SDF to use against ISIS.” Meanwhile, the SDF continued raids targeting Da’esh guerrilla cells responsible for terrorist attacks in the region and announced the capture of a Da’esh cell consisting of 18 individuals, including seven women. At the same time, an IED explosion near the Christian town of Tal Hamis injured two civilians.
Turkey
- On Tuesday, the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the prison sentences of 118 Kurdish politicians. The politicians, mostly members of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and Democratic Society Congress (TDK), were charged with membership in pro-Kurdish parties. Some of the Kurdish politicians were sentenced to as many as 21 years in prison. Likewise, a Kurdish man named Burhan Borak received a 12-year sentence for a social media post “insulting Erdogan.” Meanwhile, Turkish police continued their campaign of raids and arrests targeting Kurdish activists and HDP members. In the Karayazı District of Erzurum Province, Turkish police detained seven people, including the co-mayor Melike Göksu. On Monday, the police arrested three Kurds, including one former HDP official, in the Suruç District of Urfa.
- Kurdish protests against the Turkish government’s removal and replacement of elected Kurdish mayors reached 37 days in the cities of Diyarbakir, Mardin, and Van. The European Union (EU) also denounced the government’s decision during a session held on September 19. A statement released by the EU announced, “Amid a deteriorating rule of law situation in Turkey, Members of European Parliament (MEP) condemn the recent decision by Turkish authorities to remove the democratically elected mayors in the cities of Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin.” On the jailed Kurdish politician, Selahattin Demirtas, an MEP statement said, “The European Parliament calls for his immediate and unconditional release; takes note of the ruling of the European Court of Human · Rights on his case, which calls on the Turkish authorities to release him immediately.” A Turkish court issued a new arrest warrant against Demirats after his release was ordered by the Appeals Court of Ankara two weeks ago in a ruling that was never implemented by Turkish authorities.