923
A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- The Iranian regime pushed forward with efforts to stifle the anti-government demonstrations that began on September 16. Iranian authorities kidnapped two Kurdish men named Mozeh Muradi and Mosa’ab Khedry in Javanrud. The regime previously arrested dozens of protesters in Javanrud and besieged the city in response to a series of local demonstrations. The regime also abducted twelve people in Sanandaj, three in Bokan, two in Dewalan, five in Divanderrah, and ten in Abdanan and Dehloran. Additionally, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights revealed the identity of 11 children and teenagers arrested by Iranian authorities since January 1. Moreover, a Piranshah court handed seven Kurdish protesters prison sentences ranging from one to three years for “membership of opposition parties.” A Tehran court sentenced a female Kurdish activist named Mahsa Farhadi to two years in prison for “assembly and collusion with the intent to disrupt national security.” Concurrently, the regime killed at least two more people in Iranian Kurdistan last week, including Homan Abdullahi in Sena and Habib Fatuhllah in Divandareh. Internationally, the U.K. sanctioned the regime after it executed a British-Iranian national named Alireza Akbari. Akbari previously served as Iran’s deputy defense minister and was convicted of spying for the U.K. in 2019. Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield revealed Iran intends to sell ballistic missiles to Russia. The pro-regime Tasnim News Agency announced Iran had ordered Su-35 fighter jets from Russia and expected to receive them within several months.
- A 16-year-old Kurdish border porter (kolbar) named Sina Nadri suffered severe injuries when he fell from a cliff while being pursued by Iranian border guards near Nowsud. In 2022, the Iranian regime killed dozens of kolbars and wounded more than 200.
Iraq
- The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) took several steps away from reconciliation after both sides made derogatory statements about each other last week. The PUK’s cabinet members in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have refused to participate in government meetings while disputes between it and the KDP remain ongoing. Among the points of contention between the PUK and KDP are the unsolved murder of a former PUK intelligence officer, Sulaymaniyah’s budget, and the allocation of several senior posts. Concomitantly, White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk visited Iraq and met with several Iraqi and Kurdish officials, including President of Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani. A statement from Barzani’s office claimed he and McGurk discussed U.S. relations with Iraq and the KRG, Erbil-Baghdad relations, recent developments in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the process of forging a unified Peshmerga.
- Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani met with his Iraqi counterpart, Mohammed Shi’a al Sudani, in Baghdad. On Sunday, Barzani said he and Sudani “reached some preliminary understandings on various outstanding issues” and discussed Article 140, oil and gas laws, and the KRG budget. Sudani’s new cabinet released two months of salaries for KRG employees last week and vowed to further address the issue in the coming months.
Syria
- Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) General Commander Mazloulm Abdi said he expects Turkey will launch another incursion into Syria in February and doubts Russia’s attempt to encourage Turkey and Syria to normalize relations will succeed. Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin confirmed Turkey had not abandoned plans for a future invasion despite its ongoing talks with the Assad regime. Simultaneously, Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad said the Assad regime was conditioning normalization with Turkey on the latter’s withdrawal from Syrian territory. That said, thousands of Syrians in territory controlled by the Turkish-backed opposition protested the Turkish government’s talks with Assad. Protesters in Azaz chased and insulted the local head of a Turkish-supported opposition council, Salem al Muslat, after he expressed support for Turkish-Syrian normalization. Demonstrators in Deir Ez Zor called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a terrorist for pursuing rapprochement with the Assad regime. The U.S. remains opposed to Turkey’s ongoing diplomacy with the Assad regime, but Iran welcomed the two sides’ attempt to reestablish relations.
- The SDF followed up on its recently completed counterterrorism operation known as al Jazeera Thunderbolt by conducting several raids with U.S. forces in Deir Ez Zor Governorate last week. The SDF said it eliminated two ISIS (Da’esh) terrorists during a raid on a house in Sabkhah after the terrorists opened fire on SDF personnel. Separately, the Iraqi government repatriated 146 Iraqi families from the al Hol camp on Saturday. The SDF and the Iraqi government have now coordinated the return of thousands of Iraqi refugees and Da’esh relatives from Syria to Iraq.
Turkey
- Thousands of supporters of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and other left-leaning parties held a rally in Istanbul’s Kartal district where the “Labor and Freedom Alliance” was announced. The new alliance consists of six opposition parties led by the HDP. It’s the second largest group against the ruling parties, after the main Turkish opposition known as the “table of six.” The main opposition coalition has excluded the HDP, pushing the party to have a separate presidential candidate for the June 2023 elections. “I would like to underline once again that we will enter the elections with a presidential candidate who represents all the colors, identities, beliefs, culture, common will, labor, and freedom of women, our people, and the peoples of Turkey.” said the HDP’s Co-chair Parvin Buldan. That said, the HDP remains open to having a joint candidate with the main opposition alliance if they include the party. However, the HDP remains at risk of being closed by the government before elections as the closure case filed by the ruling parties led by president Erdogan is ongoing in Turkey’s top court. Separately, the HDP appealed to the international community to “Observe the Kobanî trial taking place on February 7. The Turkish government aims to prosecute 108 Kurdish and HDP politicians for 2014 protests in support of Kobani’s siege by ISIS. “As Turkey approaches elections, we believe that this case, which will surely affect HDP’s closure case, needs to be followed meticulously.” Read the statement by HDP’s Foreign Affairs.