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Iran
- The Iranian regime refused to allow a funeral for Ali Qazi, son of the only president of the Mahabad Republic (Kurdistan), Qazi Muhammad. Though Iranian authorities initially allowed Qazi to be buried in his hometown, they prevented mourners from gathering and holding a funeral. Qazi’s family then sent his body to Iraqi Kurdistan, where President of Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani received his remains at Erbil International Airport. Qazi was eventually buried in Sulaymaniyah Governorate’s Kalar District.
- Iranian authorities imposed a new wave of sanctions on 61 US officials, lawmakers, and public figures for “deliberate support” of the exiled People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs then released a statement accusing the US government of “supporting the terrorist group.” That said, US presidential administrations have largely stopped meeting with Iranian opposition groups since 2015.
- The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) refuted Iranian intelligence officers’ (Ettela’at) claim they arrested ten KDPI members planning attacks on the regime. “This so-called statement is a misrepresentation of the truth and slander by the IRGC as an excuse for the anti-people actions that have continued in this country for more than 40 years,” read the KDPI’s statement. The KDPI also blamed Iranian authorities for a string of daily arrests targeting dissidents.
- Ettela’at officers arrested nine Kurds in Oshnavieh (Shinno). The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported the detainees were arrested for broadcasting Abdulrahman Ghassemlou’s statements and poems from two mosques on the 33rd anniversary of his assassination. Iranian security forces also detained eight Kurds from Baneh, two in Mehabad, and one in Bokan. Furthermore, the first trial of 15 jailed teachers accused of “disruption of national security” for holding a strike to protest poor living conditions began in Sanandaj (Sena).
Iraq
- Several leaked audio recordings of former Iraqi prime minister Noori al Maliki attacking Muqtada al Sadr, Kurds, Sunnis, and other Shia parties created more political upheaval in Iraq. During the recordings, al Maliki speaks about the “next stage of fighting” al Sadr and aborting the “British project of handing power to Sunnis.” Though al Maliki claimed the recordings were “fake,” al Sadr responded with a statement that advised al Maliki to “declare seclusion, retire from political work, and surrender himself to judicial authorities, perhaps as a form of repentance for him before God and the Iraqi people.” Iraq’s Kurdish, Sunni, and other Shia parties have yet to issue statements on the recordings, but the increased tension between al Maliki and al Sadr will further delay the formation of a new government. On another note, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) met to discuss the selection of a presidential nominee.
- The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) announced a counterterror raid killed four ISIS (Da’esh) militants, including a senior operative named Hajim Mohammed al Ishaqi. Ishaqi was responsible for killing ten Peshmerga and three civilians near the Qara Chokh Mountains last year. The KSRC said the operation was coordinated with the US-led coalition and Iraqi forces, and the terrorists were killed in an “area under the control of the federal forces.” The Qara Chokh range, which lies near Erbil Governorate’s “Makhmour District” in Iraq’s “Disputed Territories,” has become one of Da’esh’s primary bases of operations.
- A Turkish drone strike destroyed a vehicle and killed all five of its occupants west of Mosul on Sunday afternoon. Ninawa’s governor, Najim al Jabouri, denounced the attack and demanded the Iraqi government “protest such acts.” Several pro-Turkish sources claimed all five of the deceased were members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Syria
- Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) General Commander Mazloum Abdi held a press conference and accused Turkey of violating a prior ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia in northwestern Syria. Abdi denied Turkish claims the SDF posed a threat to Turkey’s national security and said Turkey wanted to “destroy the Kurdish cause and exterminate the Kurds.” Concurrently, Abdi warned the SDF could not wage a two-front war against Da’esh and Turkey and emphasized at least three Da’esh leaders were operating in Turkish-occupied parts of Syria. Abdi went on to say the SDF was in talks with the US and Russia regarding Turkey’s most recent escalation. Meanwhile, on July 13, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Dana Stroul said, “We strongly oppose any Turkish operation into northern Syria and have made clear our objections to Turkey.” At the same time, the SDF released documents it claimed were forms used by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) to recruit Syrian mercenaries for operations in Yemen and Iraqi Kurdistan. Separately, the SDF continued counter-Da’esh operations last week and arrested 13 terrorists, mostly in Deir Ez Zor.
- Da’esh terrorists in al Hol camp executed a woman for “dealing with camp administration and internal security forces.” Da’esh had previously beheaded the slain woman’s 40-year-old husband two weeks ago. In another incident, suspected Da’esh sympathizers killed a woman in the camp’s fifth section on Sunday.
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Turkish-backed militias detained ten more Kurds in occupied Afrin for links with the former Kurdish administration. Six of the detained are being held for ransom by the Hamza Division. Turkish proxies routinely kidnap or arbitrarily arrest Kurds and often release them after ransoms are paid.
Turkey
- The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) criticized the judge presiding over the trial of Deniz Poyraz’s murderer. Poyraz was murdered by a fascist Turk named Onur Gencer for being Kurdish in Izmir last year. The HDP said the judge accepted Gencer’s evasive answers regarding his links to far-right militias and travel to Syria. Poyraz’s lawyers are investigating whether Gencer acted alone or received support from the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Suspicions surrounding Gencer’s links to far-right organizations were further raised when Turkish police arrested a Turkish man in front of the court for threatening to kill everyone while HDP lawmakers and supporters were holding a protest calling for justice.
- On Tuesday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Tehran and held meetings with officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and president Ebrahim Raisi. Khamenei told Erdogan to avoid a military incursion into Syria. “Notes” from the meeting read: “A military attack on northern Syria would be harmful to Syria, harmful to Turkey and harmful to the region, and it would be to the benefit of the terrorists. It would not bring about the political move Turkey expects from the Syrian government either.” Erdogan will also participate in a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Raisi over Syria.