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A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- The Iranian regime continued its clampdown on political activism last week and has now killed at least 240 people, including dozens in Iran’s Kurdish region and 18 minors, since anti-government protests began on September 16. Moreover, the regime continues to jail another 5,000 people, including activists, journalists, students, and teachers. Further, Iranian security forces intensified the regime’s crackdown on Iranian Kurdistan, most notably in Sanandaj (Sena), by killing and arresting more protesters. The regime complemented its crackdown with a propaganda campaign claiming Kurdish protesters were pursuing separatism in an attempt to divide the opposition and stoke Iranian nationalism. Despite the regime’s extensive use of violence, disinformation, and mass arrests, however, demonstrators reaffirmed their desire for regime change and chanted “Death to the Dictator” and “Woman, Life, Freedom” across Iran. Additionally, a fire at Tehran’s Evin Prison, which houses large numbers of intellectuals and political prisoners, killed eight inmates on Saturday. Iranian authorities blamed “agents of Iran’s enemy” for the fire and unrest in the prison, which was sanctioned by the US for human rights abuses in 2018. Simultaneously, the European Union (EU) approved sanctions on Iran’s morality police and security officials linked to human rights abuses against demonstrators. Iran’s sale of drones to Russia for use in Ukraine was a major reason the EU imposed sanctions. Lastly, the Iranian regime reiterated its demands the Iraqi government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) disarm and expel Iranian opposition parties in Iraqi Kurdistan. Iran’s envoy to the United Nations (UN) also justified attacks on exiled Iranian Kurdish parties. At the same time, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) deployed large numbers of personnel along the Iran-Iraq border and launched cross-border operations in Hawraman.
Iraq
- Iraq finally formed a government after the Council of Representatives elected a new president on Thursday. The dispute over the selection of a presidential candidate was resolved when the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) pulled its candidate, Rebar Ahmad, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) nominated Latif Rashid and Barham Saleh for the post. Rashid became Iraq’s new president when he received 162 votes to Saleh’s 99. Shortly after his election, President Rashid appointed Mohammed Shi’a al Sudani as prime minister-designate and tasked him with forming a new government. Al Sudani met with several political parties to discuss the selection of ministers and offered the Sadrists a role in the new government. The Sadrists rejected al Sudani’s overture, however. Meanwhile, the UN, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Arab Parliament congratulated Rashid and al Sudani for forming the new govenment.
- Iranian-backed militias attacked the Khor Mor gas field near Sulaymaniyah Governorate’s Qadir Karam with at least eight Katyusha rockets on October 12. Wednesday’s attack caused no reported damage and was the fifth on the facility, which is operated by the UAE-based Dana Gas, since June. Another four attacks were foiled by the Peshmerga. Three hours after the attack, the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units’ (PMU) “Northern Axis” announced it seized several rocket launchers between Tuz Khurmatu and Amerli. Separately, Turkish artillery wounded a 30-year-old Kurdish woman in Erbil Governorate’s Sadikan subdistrict. Turkish military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan have now killed 110 civilians and wounded at least 187 since 2011.
Syria
- The ongoing conflict between Turkey’s proxies and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in occupied Afrin reached a turning point last week when HTS took complete control of the city. The most recent round of fighting began when HTS killed a member of the Turkish-backed “Third Legion.” Turkish mediation failed to resolve the conflict and only achieved a fragile ceasefire that lasted for a few hours. Several armed groups imposed curfews in the city, and at least eight civilians were killed during the fighting.
- Bombardment by Turkey and its proxies near Ain Essa killed five US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) last week. In a statement, the SDF blamed Turkey for breaking two ceasefire agreements with the US and Russia separately. “The occupying Turkish state and its mercenaries are still launching daily attacks on various areas of northern and eastern Syria, using different types of weapons, including drones, targeting infrastructure and civilian homes,” read the SDF statement.Turkish bombing damaged several homes and farms near Zergan last week.
Turkey
- Turkish authorities selected the jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas to two and half years in prison for “revealing the identity of persons involved in counter-terrorism.” Demirtas, the former Co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has been jailed since 2016, facing 142 years of prison time for several charges, including “insulting the president.” Simultaneously, the senior Kurdish politician Leyla Guven was sentenced to eleven years and seven months for “terrorist propaganda.” Guven was stripped of her parliamentary immunity and sent to jail by the Turkish government. The HDP denounced the sentences against Demirtas and Guven, accusing the ruling parties of Justice and Development (AKP) and its ultra-nationalist ally of pressure on the HDP before the elections. Separately, the Ankara prosecutor sought fifteen years in prison for the HDP lawmaker Semra Guzel for photographs leaked showing Guzel with her fiance in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) during the peace process.