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A weekly summary of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- On Monday, Amnesty International released a report on recent protests in Iran claiming the Iranian regime has killed at least 304 protesters and arrested thousands, including children, since protests began on November 15. The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner previously stated Iranian security forces had killed at least 208 protesters and arrested over 7,000. A disproportionate number of killings and arrests have occurred in Iranian Kurdistan, with local human rights organizations accusing the Iranian regime of hiding the corpses of protestors to obfuscate the actual number of those killed. Last Tuesday, the body of a Kurdish man named Khalid Rashidi was found in the suburbs of Javanrud city. The Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) said Rashidi was killed after the protests and that his body had several gunshot wounds and showed signs of torture. Likewise, the body of another Kurdish man, Ershad Rahmani, was found near Garan Dam in Marivan. Rahmani had been missing since the Iranian regime stifled protests in Marivan and his corpse also showed signs of torture. Meanwhile, in Kermanshah, Mustafa Frazmi’s family was forced to pay a fine to receive his corpse after he was shot by Iranian authorities. Frzami was a local singer who had previously participated in protests in Tehran.
- Last week, the Iranian regime continued its crackdown on protesters and Kurdish political activity by arresting several more Kurdish activists. In Javanrud, Iranian authorities detained two Kurdish activists named Kawa Salih and Hamza Azizi. No information regarding their arrest or confinement was provided to their families. In Dehgolan, Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) detained a Kurdish environmental activist named Sabir Qadiri. Concurrently, a Kurdish activist, Simko Ma’roofi, was sentenced to two years in prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Bokan city for “disturbing national security” because he held a demonstration of solidarity against the Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria.
- Iranian border guards killed a 16-year-old Kurdish border porter (Kolbar) named Hadi Hassani near Sardasht last week. Simultaneously, Iranian authorities shot and wounded a Kolbar named Yagdar Ismaili near Baneh. Finally, a Kolbar was injured by a mine planted by Iranian border guards near Pawa.
Iraq
- The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) sent the “Reform Bill” to the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament for approval last week. The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament then voted to label the bill as “urgent” during its first reading on Monday. The bill includes several articles that pertain to reorganization of retirement salaries, decreasing the benefits of senior government officials, cutting salaries of those receiving multiple salaries, and streamlining the budget of both main Peshmerga divisions. The bill has united the main political parties in the KRG, though it has also inspired some objection from lawmakers who want more time to analyze the bill and prepare the region for the changes the bill will institute. The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament’s legal committee will review the bill after its first reading and prepare it for a second reading, after which it will be voted upon. Meanwhile, “The Drug Addiction and Mental Health Implication Act,” which will provide treatment for drug addicts in Iraqi Kurdistan, received a second reading. Drug trafficking from Iran into Iraq has dramatically increased over the past two years and created an increasing number of illicit substance abusers in the Kurdistan region. Additionally, at least some of the proceeds from the Iran-Iraq drug trade fund Iran-backed militias.
- The Turkish military incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan, which began in May and has been dubbed Operation Claw, continued last week as Turkish warplanes struck Sidekan village in the Soran District on Friday. Turkish airstrikes and artillery attacks in the region have periodically targeted civilians and displaced thousands of residents thus far.
- Kurdish security forces, in response to several ISIS (Da’esh) attacks on personnel near Khanaqin, carried out several raids and arrested 10 Da’esh terrorists. Meanwhile, in Hatin village, west of Kirkuk, Da’esh terrorists killed two Iraqi federal police. Iraq’s “Disputed Territories” continue to see an uptick in Da’esh activity since the Government of Iraq and Iran-backed militias seized control and removed Peshmerga forces on October 16, 2017.
Syria
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to close two US military bases in Turkey in response to any American imposition of sanctions on the Turkish regime. On December 12, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee marked up S.2641, the Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act, with 18 members voting yes and four voting no. S.2641 has now been placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar and is likely to receive a veto-proof majority if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allows it to be voted upon. On another note, Erdogan blamed both the US and Russia for “failing to remove” Kurdish forces from northeastern Syria. Erdogan’s statement comes amid continuing Turkish attacks on the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the region. Turkish-backed jihadists continued launching attacks near Ain Essa, especially around Hoshan village, and attempted to overtake several villages near Giri Spi (Tal Abyad) on Monday. Turkey’s jihadist proxies also prevented Kurdish and Arab farmers from returning to their farmlands near the Syrian-Turkish border. On December 11, the SDF warned Turkey and its proxies were planning additional attacks in Tal Tamer and Ain Essa and released a statement which read, “The Turkish occupation army over the past two days has brought hundreds of its mercenaries to the region and has begun preparing for new attacks.”
- The Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (AANES) released a statement critical of a new round of Astana peace talks held by Russia, Turkey, and Iran to discuss Syria’s future. The AANES described the talks as “brushing aside the will of the Syrians” and claimed they “will not produce any results as long as there is an incomplete vision of the Syrian reality.” Turkish opposition continues to ensure the Kurdish-led AANES remains excluded from all US, Russian, or Iranian sponsored peace conferences on Syria.
Turkey
- The prominent Kurdish politician Leyla Guven and seven other Kurds were sentenced to 75 months in prison on a 2008 charge of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization.” Guven recently launched a hunger strike to bring attention to the conditions of political prisoners in Turkey and protest the isolation of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.
- The Turkish government continued its ongoing crackdown on political activity and arrested dozens of Kurdish activists in Turkey’s Kurdish region last week. On Wednesday, Turkish police conducted raids in several of Mardin’s districts and detained numerous individuals, including the local head of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Additional raids took place in Lice district of Diyarbakir (Amed) Province, and eight people, including members of the HDP and other civic organizations, were detained in Adana and Malatya on December 17.
- The Turkish government continues to impose a curfew on more than 40 villages in the vicinity of Bitlis city, ostensibly to facilitate military operations against members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkish authorities have previously imposed curfews to facilitate operations against the PKK in the region and announced the current curfew will remain in effect until further notice.
- Turkish authorities have detained 104 Kurds in northeastern Syria and sent them to Turkey for prosecution since the beginning of Operation Peace Spring in October. The prosecutor of Urfa released a statement announcing 99 of the detainees are accused of “disturbing the unity and integrity of the state” and “membership in an armed terrorist organization.”