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Iran
- A car bomb wounded an Iranian member of the exiled “Organization of Iranian Kurdistan” in Erbil on Monday. The Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) Kurdistan identified the injured man as Akbar Safar Almas and said he was born in 1973. Though no one has claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack, the Iranian regime remains the prime suspect because of its history of assassinating dissidents in Iraqi Kurdistan.
- Reza Palavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, angered Iranian Kurds when he described the nation’s minorities as “tribes and clans.” That said, Pahlavi appealed to Kurds, Arabs, and the rest of Iran’s minorities to forge a “covenant of unity and solidarity in support of the people who bravely take to the streets.” The Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran (KDP-I), Khalid Azizi, expressed his party’s regret for Pahlavi’s remarks. “It is no secret that the Kurdish national struggle is one of a nation of Iranian nations that demands national rights and self-determination,” said Azizi.
- The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported the Iranian regime sentenced 16 Kurdish activists to prison in May. Simultaneously, Urmia’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a 61-year-old woman named Narmin Abadi to five years in prison for “cooperation with the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK).” Moreover, Iranian security forces in Sahneh arrested several Kaka’i Kurds, including an activist named Sawesh Hayati. Lastly, Iranian authorities detained Khalid Qurbani in Kamyaran, Sadiq Mosabah in Bokan, and Majeed Karimi in Sanandaj (Sena).
Iraq
- Baghdad and Erbil remain at odds over the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq’s ruling that rendered the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) oil and gas law unconstitutional. The President of the Kurdistan Regional Judicial Council, Abdul Jabar Hassan, rejected Baghdad’s ruling and defended the validity of the KRG’s law that was passed in 2007. Hassan also denied the constitutionality of the Federal Supreme Court. “Article 92 (2) of the Constitution of Iraq requires that the Iraqi Council of Representatives pass a law to establish an Iraqi Federal Supreme Court. No such law has to date been enacted,” said Hassan. Though the US urged both parties to come to an understanding, Baghdad remains unwilling to provide the KRG with its share of the federal budget. A KRG delegation met with Iraqi Finance Minister Ayad Allawi who warned that the KRG would not receive its 12 percent share of the federal budget until an agreement was reached, in an attempt to force the KRG into submission.
- On May 31, the Central Criminal Court of Iraq sentenced five former Kirkuk Provincial Council members, including former chairman Rebwar Talabani, to prison. Talabani received a six-year sentence, while each of his colleagues received 15 years. The five were tried in absentia and officially charged with violating Article 340 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which states, “Any public official or agent who willfully inflicts damage on the property or interests of the authority for which he works or to which he is associated by virtue of his position or on another’s property that has been entrusted to him is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 7 years or by detention.” Talabani responded saying that the trials were politically motivated, and he and his comrades were displaced by the Iraqi government and Iranian-backed militias for supporting the September 2017 Kurdistan independence referendum. Baghdad has continually attempted to punish those who supported the 2017 Kurdistan Independence Referendum, when more than 92% of voters voted yes for an independent Kurdistan.
- Renewed talks between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) did not lead to discussions on the selection of a presidential candidate last week. Separately, the leaders of Iraq’s major Kurdish parties intend to hold another round of talks to discuss the upcoming elections in October 2022. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert mediated the first round of negotiations in May.
Syria
- US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield reiterated US opposition to a new Turkish invasion of northern Syria during a phone call with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal on Thursday. A readout of the call stated that renewed Turkish military operations in the region “could lead to additional population displacement, further destabilize an already fragile situation, and undermine the international coalition’s efforts to defeat ISIS (Da’esh).” Turkey has announced plans to invade Manbij and Tal Rifaat, where thousands of displaced Kurds from occupied Afrin have settled. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and received no Russian commitment to Turkish demands. Finally, Syrian Democratic Forces General Commander Mazloum Abdi told Reuters the SDF is “open” to coordinating with the Syrian Arab Army to repel the Turkish invasion.
- The Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (AANES) handed over 153 Iraqi families and relatives of ISIS (Da’esh) in the al Hol Camp to the Iraqi government. The repatriation process started after coordination between the AANES and the Committee of Immigration and Displacement in Iraq’s Council of Representatives. Al Hol camp has seen internal violence and crimes among Da’esh sleeper cells. Since the physical defeat of Da’esh Caliphate, 148 people have been killed in the camp.
Turkey
- The Swedish government survived a no confidence vote after a lamaker, Amineh Kakabaveh, originally a Kurd from Iran, abstained from voting, breaking the tie between the opposition and the ruling parties. The Turkish government has targeted Kakabaveh on several occasions and actively demand Sweden to handover Kurdish activists “terrorists” settled in Sweden. The No Confidence Vote came on the Parliament’s floor by the center-right Swedish opposition. Turkey blocked Sweden and Finland joining NATO, demanding deportation of Kurdish opposition figures and activists. The government rejects the Turkish demands since most of the Kurds on Turkey’s list are citizens of Sweden. “It is in this chamber that Swedish laws are decided, not in Ankara.” said Kakabaveh.
- On Tuesday, June 7th, the European Parliament approved, by a majority, a resolution on Turkey. The legislation proposed by Spanish lawmaker, Nacho Sánchez Amor, criticizes the Turkish government’s authoritarianism inside the country and its military aggressions abroad, and calls for reforms. “I hope it’s a clear message for Turkish Gov will not fall on deaf ears: it’s been your deliberate decision to close the door to the EU path. Turkish society must know, though, that the future is not written!” tweeted Amor.
- Turkish lira fell further 16.75% against the dollar on Tuesday as inflation has reached 23-years high. The Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) released a “declaration” after conducting a large conference on Youth, bashing the ruling parties for the deterioration of the economy. While 30 million people in the country are struggling with the risk of hunger, 9 million people are trying to survive without work, and society is condemned to hunger,” read the HDP statement.