Kurdistan’s Weekly Brief November 12, 2019

Iran 

• Last week more casualties were reported among the border porters known as Kolbars. On Sunday a Kolbar was shot by the Iranian border guards in Biazhawe village in Sardasht while carrying goods. Near the same area, two Kolbars were wounded on Saturday. Simanad Abdullah and Mohammed Abdullah were both transferred to Qaladeze hospital in Iraqi Kurdistan due to their serious injuries.  In the Hawraman region, also near the Iraqi Kurdistan border, a Kurdish Kolbar was shot by border guards while attempting to cross the borders. In Khoy’s countryside, a Kurdish Kolbar was also shot by the border guards and due to a severe injury he was transferred to the main hospital in Khoy city. Since the beginning of 2019, 60 Kolbars have been killed and 123 wounded.
• According to a monthly report by the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), 18 Kurdish civilian activists have been detained by the Iranian regime for protesting the Turkish invasion into the Kurdish region of Syria. The activists organized rallies of Kurdish communities in Iran in solidarity with their fellow Kurds of Syria. Meanwhile, on November 10, the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Urmia sentenced a Kurdish man Jalal Tahiri to five years in prison for “membership of a Kurdish opposition party.”

Iraq

• According to the Kurdistan Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCCC) 15, 439 refugees from Syria have arrived in the Kurdistan region of Iraq since the beginning of the Turkish invasion.  Most of these refugees have been settled in Bardarash camp near Erbil.
• As the security situation in the disputed territories continues to deteriorate, ISIS (Daesh) terrorists ambushed Iraqi army forces west of Qarah Tapah district in Diyala province. The Daesh attack resulted in the death of four Iraqi soldiers and the injury of seven more. In Palkan village of Sargaran, sub-District of Kirkuk, the Peshmerga forces with French air support raided new of ISIS hideouts after the area suffered terrorist activities. The security vacuum remains the largest issue in the disputed territories since October 16, 2017 when the Iraqi forces with the Iranian backed militias attacked the region and removed the Kurdish forces from it.
• The Iraqi Supreme Court has issued a ruling in favor of allowing the displaced people of the disputed territories (mostly Kurds) to vote in the next elections outside of their original homes. The ruling was issued on Tuesday after Kurdish lawmakers filed a complaint against the legislation passed by the House of Representatives. Many Kurds from the disputed territories like Kirkuk, Shingal, and Khanaqin remain displaced after October 16, 2017. However, on Tuesday the Iraqi government postponed the planned Provincial Council elections to an unknown date.
• More warrants have been issued against figures in the Baghdad-appointed administration of Kirkuk over corruption charges. A second warrant has been issued against the acting governor of Kirkuk Rakan Said after he was released on bail earlier this year. The charges are filed by the Iraqi Commission of Integrity.

Syria 

• The Turkish invasion into the Kurdish region continued despite American and Russian deals with Turkey. The Turkish backed-terrorist launched attacks in villages near the Christian town of Tal Tamer and Ain Essa town.  The jihadists also attacked points near Ain Essa and clashed with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi announced the death of tens of SDF members despite the ceasefire. “182 of our comrades and tens of civilians were martyred, 30,000 civilians were displaced, 1100 km² was occupied,” said Abdi. Meanwhile, the US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien remains “very concerned” over the Turkish war crimes in Syria.
• Thousands of people across the Kurdish region continued demonstrations against the Turkish invasion. The demonstrators also threw stones at the joint Russian-Turkish patrols. The Turkish military killed at least one protestor while injuring eight more. Meanwhile, the US military sent more reinforcements to al Hasakah, Ramilan, and Deir Ez Zor as part of the new US plan to protect the Syrian oil and to continue supporting the SDF against ISIS terrorists.
• On Monday, a twin car bomb blasted a crowded market area inside Qamishli city. The terror attack resulted in the death of 6 civilians while 42 were wounded. On the same day, an Armenian Catholic priest was assassinated by Daesh terrorists while traveling from al Hasakah to Deir Ez Zor. The terrorists targeted Father Hovsep Petoian’s vehicle with rifles. Daesh terrorists had threatened the Kurdish region with more attacks after the Kurdish-US work in hunting down al Baghdadi.

Turkey

• After sacking 13 elected Kurdish mayors, the Turkish government has jailed several mayors while a new wave of arrests against Kurdish activists took place. In Diyarbakir (Amed) the court prosecutor demanded 15 years improvement against the Kurdish sacked Mayor for Selcuk Mızraklı for “membership of an illegal organization,” which is a charge that has been used against thousands of Kurds. Concurrently the co-mayors of Ipekyolu Municipality Azim Yacan and Şehsade Kurt were arrested. The Istanbul public prosecutor also initiated investigations against the Leaders of the Pro Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Sezai Temelli and Pervin Buldan for “spreading propaganda of terrorist organization.” On Friday the Turkish police detained 29 members of the Youth Council of the HDP for denouncing the Turkish invasion into Syria. In both Diyarbakir and Istanbul, 36 Kurds have been arrested by the police who were mostly HDP members and supporters.