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A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- The Iranian regime continued pressure on the Kurdish activists including more prison sentences against those involved in the November protests. In Marrivan, the fate of a Kurdish civilian activist and physician, Omed Modarasi, remains unknown after two weeks of his arrest by the security forces. Modarasi is known for campaigns against drug addiction. Also, in Marivan, a Kurdish man named Pishtiwan Afsari was sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court to nine years in prison for his participation in anti-government protests last November. Afsari was charged for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”. Meanwhile Goran Qurbani, who is a member of the Marivan Green Heights Organization, was sentenced to a year in prison for his environmental activism. In Sanandaj, the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) reported that the Kurdish activist, Chia Mohammdai, was sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court to five years in prison. Mohammdai was charged with “aiding a Kurdish opposition party.” In Kermanshah, a Kurdish feminism activist, Farzana Jalali, was sentenced to one year in prison. In Bokan, a labor activist, Hadi Tanwmendi, was sentenced to three years in prison.
- In Salmas, the security forces prevented the family of a deceased member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from holding a funeral for him. According to rights groups, the Iranian regime considered holding a funeral ceremony as “disruption of national security.” Ahmed Murad Pour was killed by ISIS (Da’esh) in Makhmour refugee camp in Iraq while he was part of the guarding forces of the camp.
- Last Wednesday, a border porter (Kolbar) fell off a cliff after running away from security while carrying goods near Baneh. Due to his injuries he was transferred to Baneh hospital. Meanwhile, a Kolbar, Mehedin Ibrahimi, from Oshnavieh (Shinno) is facing execution after the Iranian regime charged him with “rebellion”. Ibrahimi ‘s lawyer told the KMMK that he was charged with two execution sentences by the Urmia court for smuggling alcohol.
Iraq
- On Sunday the Kurdish forces of Peshmerga and Asayesh (Public Security) launched a military raid on several Da’esh hideouts south of Garmian district in conjunction with the US-led coalition air support. The operation resulted in the clearance of several Da’esh hideouts in Palkana, Ghara, and Qorichay villages. In a statement, the ministry of Peshmerga announced that only one Peshmerga member was injured during the operation that lasted eight hours. Da’esh attacks on the security forces and civilians have increased in the region especially after the removal of the Kurdish forces by the Iraqi government in 2017 which left a security vacuum.
- A snowstorm across the Kurdish regions causued three-day shutdown of the Haji-Omaran border crossing between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran. Meanwhile, the Kurdish provinces canceled schools for Tuesday after more snowy and severe weather across Kurdistan.
- After the Kurdistan Parliament passed the reform bill, the President Nechervan Barzani signed the bill into law. The bill mostly focused on employee pensions and reforms on the salaries of former officials. The ruling parties of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and the Change Party (Gorran) all voted in the favor of the bill in January amid the rejection by smaller opposition parties.
Syria
- Despite the military escalation in Idlib, the Turkish forces and the Jihadisits continued attempts to occupy more Kurdish villages near Tal Tamer and west of Tal Abyad particularly. On Friday, the Turkish strikes resulted in the death of six members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near Tal Tamer. On the same day, the SDF foiled an attack by the Jihadists to control three villages in the countryside of Tal Abyad. Concurrently, the Russian-Turkish joint patrols on the borders in the Kurdish region remained pending due to the absence of Turkish forces since the recent escalation of the Idlib crisis began. As tensions intensified between Russia and Turkey over Idlib, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced their willingness to mediate talks between the two sides.
- The President of the Executive Council of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Ilham Ahmed told the Sharq al Awsat newspaper that the Syrian regime has resumed talks in Damascus with the Kurdish leadership mediated by Russia. On Russia’s role, Ahmed said “[there has been] seriousness from the Russians to play the role of mediator and guarantor of the political process, and to start talks with the government.”
- Tensions occurred more than three times between the US patrols and Russian police forces in Northern Syria. The latest incident took place in Al-Maabadah city of al Hasakah province where the vehicles of the US and Russia Patrols were as near as a couple feet. The US special envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey expressed concerns over the repeated incidents, but also cited the Turkish-Russian agreement allowing the Russian patrols to come to the area.
Turkey
- In a new wave of crackdown against the Kurdish population, a number of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were arrested in several cities across Turkey. In Adana, the police arrested two local artists, Ilyas Arzu and Jiyan Savci, who were taken to custody after police raids on their homes. On Friday, at least 6 members of the HDP were taken to jail by the police including senior members of the party in Istanbul. In the Artuklu district of Mardin province, 4 pro-HDP Kurds were arrested on Sunday night. In Mersin, a dozen of Kurdish youth were detained by police. The group was accused of membership of the PKK.
- On Saturday, 13 migrants illegally crossing from Iran to Turkey froze to death. The incident took place between the Chaldiran district of Iran and Van province of Turkey. At least three of the migrants were Syrian Kurds, while the rest were from Afghanistan. On Tuesday, 30 migrants were also found frozen near Van Lake but were rescued by the locals.