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Iran
- The Iranian regime’s campaign against Kurdish political rights continued, as a prominent environmental activist named Jalal Rostami was sent to a prison in Sanandaj to begin serving a 30-month sentence. Rostami was arrested by Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) in March 2018 and charged with “membership of a Kurdish opposition party” to stifle his environmental activism. Rahim Rafa’ti and Rahman Tabesh were charged with similar offenses and began serving 43-month sentences in Oshnavah (Shinno) last week. Additionally, a Kurdish activist from Naj village named Pshtewan Afsa began serving a five-year sentence in a Sanandaj prison for participation in anti-regime protests last November after his initial nine-year sentence was reduced by an Iranian appeals court. Another Kurdish man named Deler Nasry was sent to a Sanandaj prison to begin serving a one-year sentence for “cooperation with Kurdish opposition groups.” Concurrently, a Sanandaj Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a Kurdish man named Mortaza Jaafer, who had converted to Christianity, to 15 years in prison for “perversion on Earth.” The Turkish government deported Jaafer back to Iran after he failed to seek asylum in a European country. Finally, Ettela’at officers detained a Kurdish man named Mohammad Mahmudi in Zewi village near Piranshahr.
- Three more Kurdish border porters (Kolbars) lost their lives last week. The Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) reported Iranian authorities killed two Kolbars named Kamal Holli and Hassan Milan in separate ambushes near Chaldaron on Thursday and Friday. At the same time, a Kolbar named Khosar Sharifi was pronounced dead in a Sanandaj hospital after being severely injured by Iranian authorities near Baneh on Saturday. Meanwhile, Iranian border guards wounded a Kolbar from Javanrud (Jwanro) named Sena Karami on Wednesday. Also, on Wednesday, a Kolbar named Sabir Khezry was injured by a mine from the Iran-Iraq War near Piranshahr.
Iraq
- Kurdish leader Dr. Najmaldin Karim’s remains arrived in Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday. Before the burial ceremony, numerous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) officials, including President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani and Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani, paid tribute to Dr. Karim. On another note, many of Iraqi Kurdistan’s political leaders and parties sent congratulatory letters to US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
- Tensions eased between the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in response to calls from Kurdish parties and leaders from the PKK and KDP to ban “brothers’ fights.” The PKK had previously targeted a Peshmerga patrol with an IED in Duhok Governorate’s Chamanke District, killing one Peshmerga and injuring two more. Though the international community denounced the attack, the PKK claimed the patrol crossed its territory and accused the KDP of supporting Turkey’s continuing incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan, which Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu vowed would continue on Tuesday.
- Kirkuk Governorate was the scene of additional ISIS (Da’esh) activity last week. On Monday, an IED attack killed an Iraqi police officer and Iranian-backed militiaman near Palkana. A second policeman and five more militiamen were wounded in the attack. Concurrently, Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) personnel arrested three senior Da’esh leaders that were believed responsible for at least 13 terrorist attacks. At the same time, the Iraqi Army mobilized troops to replace federal police north of Kirkuk city. That said, the recent deployment of additional troops to Kirkuk Governorate’s Hawija District has failed to stem the rash of kidnappings and terrorist attacks that continue to plague the district.
Syria
- Turkish forces and their proxies continued to launch indirect fire attacks on Kurdish villages outside the Turkish occupation zone, including two near Halab Governorate’s al Shahba. Furthermore, Turkish drones increased their coverage of Kobani and Zarkan amid fears of a Turkish-Russian agreement allowing a new invasion of northeastern Syria in wake of the US’s current focus on its own domestic political situation. Meanwhile, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) General Commander Mazloum Abdi expressed readiness to hold peace talks with Turkey in an interview with al-Monitor and said, “We want peace. We want stability.”
- Kurdish media outlets in northeastern Syria reported Turkish proxies kidnapped two Kurdish men named Bader Kutu and Mustafin Kolin in Turkish-occupied Afrin. Hundreds of Kurds have been kidnapped since the Turkish invasions of Afrin and northeastern Syria, most of whom are killed or held for ransom.
- The US Department of State announced the retirement of the Special Presidential Representative for Syria Engagement and Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant James F. Jeffrey on Monday. The Department of State’s press release also announced Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Rayburn would be taking on Ambassador Jeffrey’s Syria engagement responsibilities, and Ambassador Nathan Sales would become Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
- The coronavirus continues to spread throughout northeastern Syria and has now infected at least 5,000 people and caused 143 deaths in the region. The Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria has responded to the latest numbers by extending the partial lockdown implemented in its territory by two weeks.
- The SDF announced it carried out several raids with US-led coalition support and arrested four Da’esh terrorists in Deir Ez Zor Governorate’s al Basira town. The SDF’s continuing operations in the governorate, which remains a center of Da’esh activity, have hindered Da’esh’s ability to carry out attacks in northeastern Syria.
Turkey
- The Turkish government continued its ongoing campaign against Kurdish political rights by arresting hundreds of people throughout the country last week. In Istanbul, Turkish police arrested 93 people, including a number of Kurds, on Thursday, some of whom remain detained pending an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Likewise, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) provincial co-chairs Kadriye Tören and Ali Coşkun were arrested in Osmaniye on Monday. Turkish authorities also detained two HDP administrators named Necmettin Aydın and Adem Gözüngü in Erzurum on Tuesday. Finally, Turkish authorities arrested ten Kurds in Shirnak Province’s Cizre District.
- The HDP commemorated the fourth anniversary of the November 4, 2016 imprisonment of Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, and 10 Kurdish parliamentarians by releasing messages from Demirtaş, Yüksekdağ, and several other imprisoned Kurdish political leaders. At the same time, the HDP congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and released a statement that read, “In the US presidential elections, the HDP congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We hope that America’s policies will prioritize and support agendas such as democracy, human rights and freedoms, socio-economic justice, gender equality, an ecological approach to climate change, and an ethical and peaceful foreign policy.”