674
Iran
- The Iranian Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj sentenced a female Kurdish teacher named Zara Mohammadi to ten years in prison for “creating a group to disrupt national security.” Mohammadi, who is also a member of a non-profit organization called Rohzen, denied the charges in a video released on Instagram and said her only crime is “teaching in mother tongue and doing humanitarian work.” Mohammadi’s sentence has sparked anger in Iran’s Kurdish region, and many activists have launched a social media campaign denouncing the ruling.
- Iranian authorities arrested a member of a local political organization named Rahimi Farad in Kamyaran. Concurrently, the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) reported three Kurdish men were arrested and accused of “membership of Kurdish opposition parties” in Sardasht. Also, in Sardasht, Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) arrested a Kurdish man named Osman Rosta.
- Four young Kurds in Baneh were sentenced to 16 years in prison for burning a poster of the deceased commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani. The Kurds were identified as 20-year-old Arman Hussienzada, 19-year-old Bahman Rahimi, 19-year-old Milad Husseini, and 17-year-old Sainal Abdullahi.
- A Kurdish border porter (Kolbar) died in Urmia from wounds suffered at the hands of Iranian border guards last week. Simultaneously, the IRGC fired mortars that killed a Kurdish shepherd named Rasol Bakand near Piranshahr. Bakand is the second Kurdish shepherd killed by Iranian authorities near the Iran-Iraq border in the last two weeks. Meanwhile, three Kurds were killed by mines from the Iran-Iraq War in Ilam Province’s Mehran County.
Iraq
- A senior delegation from Iraq’s Ministry of Defense visited Erbil to discuss additional deployments and joint operations in Iraq’s “Disputed Territories” on Monday. US military personnel also attended the meeting in an attempt to forge an agreement between the Government of Iraq (GOI) and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The GOI and KRG have already agreed to deploy troops between Khurmatu and Kirfi and mobilized troops in the region last week, though the Peshmerga denounced uncoordinated deployments of Iraqi forces near Iraq’s borders with the KRG. ISIS (Da’esh) has been active in the “Disputed Territories” since Iraqi security forces and Iranian-backed militias removed Peshmerga forces from the region after the Kurdish independence referendum on October 16, 2017.
- Militants from the Iranian-backed group Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq demanded Kurdish shop owners in the historic Qaysara mall of Kirkuk pay 4,000 USD to retain ownership of their stores. The entire mall was previously set on fire by unidentified arsonists in November 2018.
- France’s Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian followed up a visit to Baghdad by meeting with Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani and Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talibani to discuss investments, outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and France’s “support for the Kurdistan region at this difficult time.” Meanwhile, on Sunday, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Mohammed Zarif landed in Baghdad amid protests and visited Iraqi Kurdistan to meet with KRG officials, including the President of the Kurdistan Region Nechivan Barzani. Barzani’s office released a statement following the meeting that claimed the two sides discussed “Bilateral relations between the Kurdistan Region and Iran, the Erbil-Baghdad pending issues and efforts to resolve them through dialogue.”
Syria
- The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the conclusion of the “Deterrence of Terrorism Phase ll” security operation targeting Da’esh terrorists in northeastern Syria and released a statement outlining the results of the operation, which included the seizure of light and medium-sized weapons, mines, mortars, and warehouses used by terror cells. The operation lasted three days and mostly targeted locations in Deir Ez Zor Governorate.
- The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) rejected participation in the People’s Council of Syria elections that occurred on July 19. AANES spokesperson Luqman Ahay described the elections as “not relevant to the self-administration” and criticized the Syrian regime for “taking the same path” and failing to see “any crisis in Syria.” The AANES also refused to place any ballot boxes in areas under its control.
- The Turkish government announced the “rescue” of a Moldavian citizen and her four children from Syria’s al Hawl camp in an intelligence operation on Friday. The woman, Natalia Barkal, is one of the thousands of Da’esh “brides” currently held in the SDF-administered camp. The AANES responded to the Turkish announcement by releasing a statement accusing Turkey of supporting Da’esh that read, “We, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, call upon the whole world to hold Turkey responsible for smuggling and receiving Daesh members, and its explicit and implicit support for Daesh’s sleeper cells in the region.” The camp’s security forces later announced the capture of four Sudanese Da’esh brides attempting to escape the camp in a water tanker.
Turkey
- Turkish police arrested 17 activists in Istanbul for holding a march to commemorate the July 20, 2015 Suruc bombing that killed 30 people, mostly Kurds, in Suruc town. The march was organized by several organizations, including the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP). Simultaneously, Turkish authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a commemorative gathering of 300 people, mostly youth, in Ankara.
- The HDP denounced Turkey’s conversion of the Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque and accused the Turkish Council of State of serving as a “propaganda machine” for the ruling Justice and Develop Party (AKP) headed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The HDP also said, “Hagia Sophia is part of humanity’s cultural and historical heritage. Converting it into a mosque is a mistake.”