Kurdistan’s Weekly Brief March 21, 2023

Iran 

• Several anti-government protests broke out in Bokan, Mahabad, Piranshahr, Shino, Bana, Saqiz, Divandareh, Sena, Marivan, Jawanro, Urmia, and Kermanshah on Red Wednesday, which begins on the final Tuesday of the Persian calendar year. Moreover, thousands of Kurds defied security crackdowns and threats to celebrate Newroz by singing songs and waving the flag of Kurdistan. Newroz celebrations quickly morphed into an anti-regime protest in Saqqez, and Iranian security forces opened fire on a Newroz gathering in Dehgolan. That said, the Iranian regime sentenced several teachers to prison for protesting the recent string of poison gas attacks on girls’ schools and participating in demonstrations. A teacher from Abdanan named Ahmed Alizadeh was sentenced to six years in prison and exile to Sistan and Baluchistan Province. Shabaan Mohammadi was sentenced to five years in prison in Marivan, four environmental activists received two-year sentences in Shinno, a Kurdish activist received a ten-year sentence, and an artist named Arsalan Baharmi was sentenced to nine months in prison. Further, the Iranian regime ignored international protests and executed a Kurdish political prisoner named Mohayyedin Ebramimi on Friday. The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights also claimed Iranian authorities arrested ten more Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan. Separately, the U.K. sanctioned more Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) personnel on Monday. Lastly, U.S. President Joe Biden held a Newroz reception at the White House. “The United States stands with these [Iranian] brave women for inspiring the world with their conviction, and I have to emphasize their courage,” said Biden. Biden also vowed to “hold Iran accountable” for attacking its people.  

Iraq 

• The Iraqi government agreed to officially recognize Halabja as Iraqi Kurdistan’s fourth province. The announcement came during Prime Minister Mohammed Shi’a al Sudani’s visit to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, where he met with senior Kurdish officials to discuss ongoing disputes between Baghdad and Erbil. According to several officials, the two sides agreed on Iraqi Kurdistan’s share of the federal budget and to work on adopting a new oil and gas bill. Concurrently, Iraq’s cabinet submitted a three-year budget bill to the Council of Representatives that included a $152 billion budget for 2023. 
• The Council of Representatives voted on Monday to hold provincial elections on November 6, 2023. The elections, which are the first of their kind in a decade, will be based on the Sainte-Laguë method, which faces some opposition from the protest movements of 2019 and Muqtada al Sadr. Kirkuk’s provincial election will be its first since 2005. Separately, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) agreed on most of the region’s proposed election laws and plan to hold elections this year. 

Syria 

• Militants from the Turkish-backed al Sharqia shot and killed four Kurdish men in Afrin’s Jindires district for celebrating Newroz. Turkish forces also conducted artillery attacks on Ain Issa, Saida and al-Khalidyah villages, Ain Issa, and sections of the M4 Motorway, causing property damage but no reported casualties. 
• Syrian President Bashar al Assad met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 16. Assad voiced support for Russian plans to establish new military bases and deploy additional troops in Syrian government-controlled territories. Assad refused to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Turkish representatives and claimed all of Syria’s security problems are caused or exacerbated by Erdogan’s policies in Syria. Assad also continued efforts to normalize relations with his Arab counterparts by meeting with United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and, to a lesser extent, the UAE supported anti-Assad rebels during the Syrian Uprising. The UAE has reversed course and rebuilt ties with Damascus in recent years, despite U.S. objections, to check the regional influence of Russia and Iran, both of whom remain ardent Assad supporters and helped him turn the tide of the Syrian Civil War. 
• The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) freed 19 prisoners accused of working with the Islamic State (Da’esh) after evidence of their participation in a series of massacres proved inconclusive. The prisoners were released to local leaders on a tribal surety. Concurrently, Da’esh militants attacked the home of a wealthy oil investor in eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate with small arms and rockets. Da’esh’s attacks on wealthy individuals are intended to secure zakat, an Islamic obligation to donate a portion of one’s wealth to charity. Internal security forces in northeastern Syria (Asayish) responded by launching a security operation in Qamishli’s Allaya neighborhood to root out Da’esh terror cells.  

Turkey

• The Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, met with People’s Democratic Party (HDP) leaders to establish an understanding between the two parties and encourage unity during the run-up to the May 14 election. During the meeting, Kılıçdaroğlu presented a memorandum of understanding and proposed a constitutional amendment to be implemented if his coalition wins the election. Kılıçdaroğlu also emphasized the solution to Kurdish issues lies with Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. In addition, the CHP claimed it would attempt to secure the release of imprisoned HDP members to ostensibly secure the HDP’s membership in the National Alliance. 
• The HDP is considering entering the May elections under the banner of the Green Left Party (YSP) in response to the Turkish government’s ongoing efforts to close it. Turkey’s Constitutional Court is set to hear HDP representatives’ arguments against closure on April 11. The HDP petitioned the court to postpone the case until after May’s elections in the interest of democratic principles last week. If the Constitutional Court does not approve the HDP’s request for postponement, running under the YSP banner would allow the party’s candidates to win elections and hold political office. Meanwhile, a Turkish court is attempting to imprison former HDP MP Semra Güzel for up to seven and a half years for “forgery of official documents.” Güzel was previously removed from her seat in the Grand National Assembly. 
• On Friday, President Erdogan said the Grand National Assembly will begin ratifying Finland’s entry into NATO. Sweden’s entry was delayed after Turkey demanded it deport Kurdish dissidents. Finland and Sweden both signed an agreement with Turkey to report on and potentially extradite Kurds that Ankara identifies as terror suspects, but Sweden has yet to comply with this arrangement. The U.S. urged Turkey to quickly ratify Sweden’s NATO bid and disregard its non-compliance with Turkey’s preferred “counterterrorism” policy. 
• Thousands gathered across Turkey to celebrate Newroz on March 19, many of whom demanded the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) resign and called for the Turkish government to free imprisoned former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş. Current HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan spoke during the celebrations and said, “Newroz is the day when Kurds, Turks, Armenians, Assyrians, Laz, Bosnians, Pomaks, those who live under oppression, those who are exposed to violence, injustice, and unlawfulness, all identities and all faiths raise their voices together against oppressors, evil, violence, unlawfulness.” Turkish authorities detained 224 people during Istanbul’s celebration and more in Ankara for displaying banners, chanting for Kurdish independence, and advocating for the HDP’s success in May.