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Iran
- The Iranian regime continued its crackdown on Kurdish political activity last week. Last Tuesday, Iranian authorities arrested a Kurdish activist from Dewalan named Sirwan Rahimi. The Kurdistan Association for Human Rights (KMMK) claimed Rahimi had served a 13-month sentence for “cooperation with an opposition party” before his most recent arrest. Meanwhile, Iranian security forces arrested an activist named Raza Sofiwand in Lorestan on Friday. Iranian authorities also arrested an American activist named Ashfeen Sheikhollah while he was visiting his parents on Friday in Sanandaj. Sheikhollah, who has a history of political and environmental activism, was previously released from jail five weeks ago. Also, in Sanandaj, Iranian authorities arrested a female environmental activist named Faranak Jamshedi on Sunday. Finally, an Islamic Revolution Court in Urmia sentenced a Kurd from Turkey named Sardar Ozmoushi to 18 years in prison for “membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.”
- A statement from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) claimed their Peshmerga forces engaged in “heavy clashes” with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) near the Halgurd Mountains and that, “The Peshmerga unit defeated the Iranian forces and forced them to retreat from the area. The Peshmerga unit did not suffer any casualties.” That said, Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (NEZA) Commander Brigadier General Mohammed Pakpour announced plans to attack Kurdish opposition forces near the Iran-Iraq border.
- Iranian border guards killed three Kurdish border porters (Kolbars) and wounded three more in two separate ambushes near the Chaldiran District on Thursday and Friday. Several Kurdish human rights organizations published the names of the deceased, which were Qasim Sarbazi, Sajad Milan, and Shaker Broki. At the same time, Iranian authorities injured three Kolbars near Nowsud on Saturday.
- Three Kurdish environmental activists lost their lives on Sunday near Paveh (Pawa), with initial reports claiming Mokhtar Khandani, Bilal Ameni, and Yassein Karimi were killed while trying to extinguish a wildfire. That said, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights claimed the three activists were killed by a land mine planted by the Iranian regime to target Kurdish rebels. Dozens of Paveh residents protested the three men’s deaths on Monday, while arson and wildfires continue to plague Iranian Kurdistan every summer.
Iraq
- The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) failed to reach an agreement with the Government of Iraq (GOI) regarding the provision of its share of the Iraqi budget and the salaries of government employees in Iraqi Kurdistan last week. Granted, several reports claim the two sides are close to reaching an agreement which will entail the KRG handing over all its oil production to Baghdad and half of the duties it receives from imports entering Iraqi Kurdistan. The KRG and GOI are both facing severe economic crises due to low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.
- The Turkish military operation now known as Operation Claw Tiger continued last week, with Turkish forces carrying out additional airstrikes and penetrating as far as 40 kilometers into Iraqi Kurdistan. On Thursday, Turkish airstrikes hit two positions near a tourist site north of Sulaymania, injuring several civilians and killing one member of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). Turkish military personnel were also deployed in the hills surrounding Zakho town amid ongoing reports of Turkish military bases being established in Iraqi Kurdistan.
- Iraqi Kurdistan’s coronavirus numbers continue to climb, as nearly 1,300 new cases were confirmed last week. The KRG responded to this development by authorizing governorates to impose additional restrictions to combat the virus’s spread. The region’s total coronavirus numbers now stand at 3,937 active cases, 200 deaths, and 1,767 recoveries.
Syria
- ISIS (Dae’sh) detainees staged a prison riot in an al Hasakah prison on Monday, though Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) managed to restore order within a few hours. The prison in question has been the scene of previous Da’esh riots, including a major one on May 3, 2020 that was ended by an agreement between the SDF and the prisoners.
- Turkish-backed jihadists shattered a period of relative calm by attacking several locations along the border of the Turkish-occupied zone and SDF-controlled territory in northeastern Syria. Attacks were reported on Thursday and Monday west of Ain Essa
- The pro-Kurdish Hawar News released a report claiming Turkish proxies have set fire to approximately 4,000 acres of farmland in 2020. Syria’s Kurdish region’s 850,000 acres of farmland remain threatened by numerous other actors, including Da’esh and the Assad regime.
- Dozens of Kurds staged a protest in front of the main Russian military base in northeastern Syria and accused Russia of allowing Turkey to attack civilians. The protests began after a Turkish airstrike killed three Kurdish female activists in Kobane on Wednesday. Though the US denounced the strikes, Kobane has remained under Russian control since US forces withdrew from the region in October 2019. Meanwhile, Kurdish residents of the villages surrounding Chil Agha town protested the establishment of several new Russian military posts.
Turkey
- Turkish authorities continued their crackdown on Kurdish political activity by arresting 24 people, including the recently removed Kurdish mayors Hatice Tash and Osman Karabulut, in Batman Province’s İkiköprü town last week. Turkish police also detained five people in Marash Province’s Pazarcık District. Concurrently, Turkish authorities arrested 43 members of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) in Diyarbakir (Amed). The detainees include Rojbin Chetin, a former mayor of Van Province’s Edremit District who was tortured and sexually abused by Turkish police. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) responded by criticizing the Turkish government for its continuous arrest of political opposition figures and released a statement which read, “In a political climate where any criticism of the government is equated with terrorism, incessant detentions and arrests have become routinized means of intimidating the democratic society and politics in Turkey.”