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Iran
- An Erbil appeals court confirmed the death sentences of three men convicted of murdering a Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-I) Peshmerga commander named Qadir Qadiri. Two other defendants were sentenced to five years in prison. The court also ruled that Qadiri’s case was terrorism-related. Qadiri’s lawyer lauded the court’s ruling during a press conference and said, “We appealed the [initial] decision, and it was abolished because the crime is not only murder but terrorism.” Qadiri was assassinated in an Iranian-sponsored operation on March 6, 2018.
- An armed affiliate of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) known as the “Zagros Eagles” attacked Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) personnel near Saqqez on Wednesday. Iranian authorities shut down the main road between Saqqez and Marivan the following day. At the same time, an unknown group attacked an Iranian Army (Artesh) outpost near Urmia. The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights claimed the Iranian regime deployed a large force along the Iran-Iraq border from Shinno to Piranshahr.
- Iranian security forces arrested five Kurdish activists in Shinno and three in Bokan. Separately, Iranian border guards killed a Kurdish border porter (kolbar) near Salas-e Babajani on Friday and wounded four others in Baneh and Nowsud.
- An Iranian Kurdish journalist named Mohamaed Mamandzadeh is facing deportation from Turkey after he was arrested in Antalya. Mamandzadeh, who is a member of Reporters Without Borders, fled to Turkey after receiving a string of threats from Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) because of his environmental activism.
Iraq
- Supporters of Muqtada al Sadr and the Iranian-backed Coordination Framework held competing demonstrations last week. Al Sadr ordered millions of his supporters to protest on August 20 after Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) rejected his request to dissolve the parliament. The SJC claimed it lacks the authority to disband the Council of Representatives. Meanwhile, the Coordination Framework dispatched Badr Organization head Haidi al Ameri to Iraqi Kurdistan to meet with Iraq’s Kurdish parties as part of its ongoing efforts to form a new government. Al Ameri told the Kurdish parties to hold a parliamentary session and elect Iraq’s next president.
- President of Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani hosted a meeting that was attended by the leaders of all Iraq’s major Kurdish parties except for the New Generation. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert also attended the meeting, where Kurdish leaders discussed the Kurdistan Region’s upcoming elections and ongoing efforts to “resolve existing differences.” The parties remain at odds over demands to change electoral laws before the elections currently slated for October 1, 2022. “The political parties will continue to discuss and prepare for the elections in cooperation with the UNAMI’s team of experts,” read a statement from the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region.
Syria
- Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) General Commander Mazloum Abdi told al Hurra that “all American institutions” oppose another Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria. That said, Turkey launched more attacks on the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) that wounded a civilian in Ain Essa and killed two members of the SDF-affiliated Syriac Military Council in Tal Tamer. Concurrently, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve Commander Major General John Brennan visited al Hasaka on August 9, reaffirmed US support for the SDF, and “denounced the killing of civilians by all armed groups.” Meanwhile, al Hol camp administration renewed warnings about the consequences of a new Turkish invasion.” said Jihan Hanan the director of the camp. Al Hol holds thousands of Da’esh captives and their families, including foregin citizens.
- Thousands of Syrians protested across Turkish-occupied areas against remarks by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who called for reconciliation between the Assad regime and the Syrian opposition. Cavusoglu admitted meeting the Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Belgrade “briefly.” On Monday, a lawmaker of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) reaffirmed Turkey’s normalization plans with the Assad regime.
Turkey
- After successful rallies in major cities calling for reforms, the Turkish government crackdown on the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), during several raids of homes of HDP members and leaders, the Turkish police arrested eight people in Marsin, twenty people in Adana, four in Van, two in Amed, and fifteen people in Izmir and Manisa. At the same time, the general prosecutor in Hatay filed a criminal case against several Kurds for chanting pro-Kurdish slogans in 2015.
- The HDP parliamentary group formally requested investigations of actions by the Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups. “Crimes such as extortion, torture, looting, harassment, rape and extrajudicial executions committed by armed groups gathered under the name of SNA [Syrian National Army],” read the HDP letter to the presidency of the Turkish national assembly. The HDP said the Turkish government supported the Syrian proxies and for a decade “ignored the crimes committed by these criminal networks and observed by the whole world” for a decade.