1.4K
A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- On Monday, the European Union (EU) imposed additional sanctions on the Iranian regime, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, Iran’s Minister of Sports and Youth, members of the Iranian parliament, and an Iranian company responsible for procuring security and defense equipment. That said, the EU stopped short of listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization despite the fact the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for the EU to add the IRGC and its paramilitary force, the Basij, to its terror list. The resolution also called for the sanctioning of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi. Concurrently, the U.S. and the U.K. sanctioned more Iranian officials, including several from Iran’s intelligence services. “The United States today is taking further action to press for accountability for the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses by imposing sanctions on ten additional Iranian individuals and one other Iranian entity,” read a statement from the U.S. State Department. Dozens of Kurds celebrated the new round of Western sanctions by holding dances in Mehabad, but the Iranian regime remained committed to its brutal campaign against protesters and activists. The regime repressed Balochis in Zahedan and abducted dozens in Piranshahr, including two female activists named Safyeh Pour and Golaleh Moradi. Simultaneously, Iranian security forces arrested two members of the Nozhin Organization for Human and Cultural Rights and a female college student in Sanandaj (Sena), three Kurds in Marivan, and more in Tehran, Kamyaran, Dewalan, and Sardasht. In Kermanshah, a female archery champion named Kothar Nia lost an eye after being wounded when Iranian authorities opened fire on demonstrators in the city last December. Concomitantly, an Islamic Revolutionary Court in Bokan sentenced a Kurdish man named Jalal Amini to three years and eight months in prison for “membership of a Kurdish party.” Piranshahr’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a Kurdish imam to four years and six months in prison for “propaganda against the regime.” Lastly, the Hengaw Organization for Human rights reported one IRGC member was killed and three were wounded during clashes with an unknown group in Bokan on Saturday.
Iraq
- The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) expressed a “readiness” to reconcile and discussed several outstanding issues last week. At the same time, the U.S. Consulate General Erbil said White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Biden administration advisor Amos Hochstein met with Kurdish leaders in Baghdad and Erbil and stressed the “importance of Kurdish unity to advance shared interests.” The two sides also discussed ongoing energy disputes between Baghdad and Erbil. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski praised the prospect of improved “coordination” between Baghdad, Erbil, and the U.S. regarding Iraq’s energy situation. That said, disputes between Erbil and Baghdad over the sale of gas and oil from Iraqi Kurdistan have remained unresolved since the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq ruled the Kurdistan Region’s 2007 oil and gas law was unconstitutional in February 2022.
- KDP lawmakers, including Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament Hemin Hawrami, called for an extraordinary parliamentary session to discuss several proposals regarding electoral laws. According to Hawrami, Iraq’s Kurdish parties lack common ground on issues like multi-electoral voting and biometric systems. The Kurdistan Parliament extended its term by one year last October but is leaning towards holding elections in 2023.
- ISIS (Da’esh) terrorists ambushed a police lieutenant named Nawzad Hassan and his driver while they were visiting military checkpoints near Kirkuk Governorate’s Jabal Bor on January 17. Local security officials claimed both Hassan and his driver, Mohammed Pasha, were killed by small arms fire during the ambush. Da’esh claimed responsibility for the incident on January 18. The security situation in Iraq’s “Disputed Territories” remains volatile because Baghdad has yet to implement plans to deploy several recently formed joint Iraqi-Peshmerga divisions to the region.
- On January 19, the German Bundestag held a special session and passed a resolution recognizing the Yazidi Genocide. The resolution stated the Bundestag “recognizes the crimes against the Yazidi community as genocide, following the legal evaluations of investigators from the United Nations.”
Syria
- U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted a “partnered helicopter and ground assault raid” with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Saturday and captured three Da’esh terrorists. CENTCOM also reaffirmed its” steadfast commitment” to the region and Da’esh’s enduring defeat. Separately, Turkish drones killed a child named Ahmed Abdul Gani on January 18 and a member of the SDF near Rmelan on January 19. The SDF released a statement following the January 19 attack that read, “A Turkish occupation army drone targeted a point for military relations in the town of Rumaylan, which is used to coordinate meetings with the International Coalition forces. The treacherous targeting resulted in the death of one of our fighters working in the Department of Relations with the International Coalition, while another one was wounded.”
- Turkey and the Assad regime appeared to take another step towards normalizing relations last week. Al Sharq al Awsat suggested Moscow successfully mediated the opening of the Aleppo-Latakia highway (M4 Motorway), part of which remains controlled by Turkish-backed opposition groups. Syria’s Kurds remain concerned about Turkey and the Assad regime’s normalization efforts, and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) remains doubtful the process will benefit ordinary Syrians.
Turkey
- On the fifth anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Afrin, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) criticized the Turkish government for the crimes committed by Syrian “criminal” groups against the Kurdish population. The HDP also accused the Turkish government of atrocities in Afrin, including “Demographic and ethnic engineering in Afrin” and “displacing hundreds of thousands of Kurds.” The HDP described the silence of the world and Turkey’s public opinion as “shameful.”
- Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to call for early elections despite previous comments about holding it on May 14. The HDP is still facing the threat of closure by Turkey’s constitutional court, but the court will be reviewing a request to postpone the verdict until after the elections. The Turkish politician, Co-chair of the HDP, Mithat Sancar, said that the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahçeli, has threatened the constitutional court if they did not shut down the pro-Kurdish party. The court suspended government funding to the party earlier this month.
- The Turkish police arrested two singers for singing in Kurdish Kocaeli on January 22. Omer Faruk, a lawmaker of Kocaeli, questioned the Justice Minister and said, “in the 21st century, still detention on this grounds?” The Turkish government often bans Kurdish songs and concerts.