716
Iran
- The Iranian regime killed three Kurdish border porters (Kolbars) and injured four last week. On Monday, Iranian border guards opened fire on a group of Kolbars near a border crossing in the vicinity of Sardasht city, killing a Kolbar named Loguman Rashidzada. On Friday, also near Sardasht, Iranian authorities intercepted and wounded a Kolbar who was transporting cargo. Concurrently, near Piranshahr, Iranian security forces wounded a Kolbar on Thursday and killed two Kolbars, Abdulrahman and Sadiq Muradi, on Friday. Iranian authorities also injured a Kolbar near Salmas on Wednesday. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), the Iranian regime has killed 59 Kolbars and wounded at least 117 since the beginning of 2019.
- The Iranian regime continued its crackdown on Kurdish political activity last week. On Saturday, Iranian authorities detained four activists in Bukan. In Sanandaj, Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) detained a Kurdish labor activist named Faramarz Shariatee. Meanwhile, the fate of numerous Kurdish activists jailed for organizing protests against Turkey’s invasion of Syria remains unknown.
Iraq
- On October 18, France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Iraqi Kurdistan and met with multiple officials, including President Nerchirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani. Le Drian and the Kurdish officials discussed the situation in northeastern Syria and political developments in the Middle East.
- The Turkish military continued its military incursion, dubbed Operation Claw, into Iraqi Kurdistan last week. Turkey claims the operation, which began in May 2019, is targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants based in Iraq’s Qandil Mountains. On October 15, Kurdish security forces in Sulaymaniyah announced a Turkish drone attack killed two PKK members. Kurdish officials described the attack as an assassination and chastised Turkey for launching such an attack near the city’s civilian population. Likewise, on October 16, Turkish warplanes bombarded Blava village in Duhok Governorate. The Turkish military recently established 20 bases in the region which it claims will facilitate anti-PKK operations, while dozens of villages in the Iraq-Turkey border region remain evacuated. At the same time, thousands of Kurdish social media posts called for a boycott of Turkish products in protest of Turkey’s attack on northeastern Syria.
- The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) rebuilt a refugee camp in Bardarash, which is in Dohuk Governorate, to receive large numbers of people displaced by Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria. 300 refugees have entered Iraqi Kurdistan so far and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is preparing for the arrival of thousands more. The Bardarash camp was previously closed after its residents returned to their homes in Nineveh Province.
- In Kirkuk, a small gathering of Turkish-backed Arabs and Turkmens protested the return of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to Kirkuk Province and shouted racist slogans against the province’s Kurdish majority. The KDP was previously forced out of its Kirkuk headquarters by Iraqi security forces on October 16, 2017, though it always intended to return to the province. Simultaneously, Kirkuk Province remains plagued with a deteriorating security situation and continues to see an uptick of Islamic State (Da’esh) attacks that tend to target the province’s rural areas. An IED attack on a police patrol near the Laylan Bridge wounded one officer. On another note, Kurdish store owners in Tuz Khurmatu held a general strike on the second anniversary of the Iraqi attack on the town which took place on October 16, 2017. The attack on Tuz Khurmatu was carried out by Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed militias and resulted in the destruction of 160 Kurdish homes and numerous war crimes.
Syria
- The Turkish military and their jihadist allies violated the October 17 ceasefire by launching several attacks on Kurdish towns near Sari Kani and Geri Spi (Ras al-Ain). The Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) Director of Media Relations Redur Khalil announced Turkey and allied jihadist groups breached the five-day ceasefire 37 times by conducting 10 airstrikes and 27 ground attacks. The SDF evacuated civilians and withdrew from Sari Kani and Geri Spi on October 20. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced the Turkish invasion had killed 275 SDF personnel, 120 civilians, and displaced over 300000 of the region’s inhabitants. The SOHR also reported the return of a Da’esh leader with 150 terrorists to Tal Abyad amid the chaos and looting caused by Turkish-backed jihadist groups. Concurrently, thousands in northeastern Syria protested Turkey’s ethnic cleansing and called for the introduction of an international force tasked with controlling and monitoring area. Following the ceasefire, Turkish warplanes have continuously hovered over Kobani while jihadist factions have launched periodic attacks on the outskirts of Tal Abyad and made moves towards Kobani.
- The European Union condemned Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria and called it detrimental to European security. A joint statement issued by US and European lawmakers also condemned Turkey’s aggression and criticized the abandonment of Syria’s Kurds. That said, the Trump administration issued seemingly contradictory statements regarding Turkey’s invasion. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated the US would use force against Turkey if necessary, to resolve the situation while President Trump and US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stressed the US never promised to protect the Kurds. On Monday, five US Senators held a private meeting co-chaired by Senators Lindsey Graham and Chris Van Hollen and a press conference with the President of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Ilham Ahmed. Ahmed thanked Americans for their support and called for an end to the Turkish invasion. Senator Van Hollen stated, “After our meeting with Ilham Ahmed, we’re even more worried about the situation unfolding in northeastern Syria.” Senator Graham echoed Van Hollen’s thoughts and said, “I blame Turkey more than anyone. Turkey’s invasion has put at risk the defeat of the caliphate.”
Turkey
- The Turkish government intensified its ongoing crackdown on Kurdish activists and officials last week. Turkish authorities removed seven more elected Kurdish co-mayors and replaced them with trustees in the Hakkari, Yuksekova, Nusaybin, Ercis, Kayapınar, Bismil, and Kocakoy districts. Eleven elected Kurdish officials have been sacked since the local elections of March 2019. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) responded by issuing a statement denouncing the Turkish government’s actions. On another front, Turkish police detained 13 people, mostly Kurds, for opposing the Turkish invasion of Rojava on social media in Ankara. In the Derek District of Mardin Province, Turkish police implemented a curfew and detained 12 people. Turkish authorities also prevented HDP members from reading statements of opposition to Turkey’s ongoing military campaign in Syria and hundreds remain jailed for protesting the invasion.