Kurdistan’s Weekly Brief March 28, 2023

Iran 

• The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights claimed the Iranian regime attacked and wounded 40 Kurds celebrating Newroz in Iranian Kurdistan. Several celebrations evolved into anti-government protests, most notably in Saqqez, Mehabad, and Dewalan. Moreover, Iranian authorities arrested three Kurds for organizing Newroz ceremonies in Marivan and Shino. Meanwhile, Kermanshah’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a Kurdish man named Sena Kakai to seven months in prison and a two-year travel ban for “disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” Sena’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a female Kurdish activist named Shilan Kurdistani to four years in prison for “membership in an illegal group.” Concurrently, in Urmia, five people, including a female, were sentenced to death and five others received lengthy prison sentences for “spying for Israel.” At the same time, Iranian border guards killed one Kurdish border porter (kolbar) and wounded another near Baneh. A mine from the Iran-Iraq War injured a third kolbar near Sadaw village. 

Iraq 

• The International Chamber of Commerce ruled in Baghdad’s favor regarding the Iraqi government’s lawsuit targeting the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independent oil exports. The ruling effectively paused the KRG’s oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline. That said, a KRG delegation met with Iraqi officials in Baghdad and hashed out an agreement to resume exporting oil from Iraqi Kurdistan. Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani said, “Our recent understandings with Baghdad have laid the groundwork for us to overcome the arbitration ruling today.” A key component of the Erbil-Baghdad agreement ensures the Iraqi government delivers the salaries of public employees in Iraqi Kurdistan, approximately $307 million monthly, in exchange for 400,000 barrels of oil per day. On another note, the Kurdistan Presidency announced Iraqi Kurdistan’s parliamentary elections would be held on November 16, though efforts to forge an agreement between Iraq’s Kurdish parties on the region’s election laws remain ongoing.

• Iran and Iraq’s signing of a vague border security agreement raised concerns among exiled Iranian Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Iranian regime has bombed Kurdish opposition groups in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah multiple times since 2018, leaving dozens dead or wounded. Thousands of Iranian Kurds have lived in Koya and other parts of Iraqi Kurdistan since the 1990s. On a separate note, the Kurdistan Regional Security Agency announced the capture of eight ISIS (Da’esh) terrorists that entered the region from other parts of Iraq. 

Syria

• The French Senate received a delegation from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and honored the sacrifices of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) in the fight against Da’esh. The YPG and YPJ’s spokespersons, Nuri Mahmud and Roxsana Muhammad, were awarded a “Medal of Honor.” Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs disapproved of the action and summoned the French ambassador to “strongly denounce the Senate of France” for their recognition of the YPG/YPJ.

• The AANES was attacked at least six times by various armed groups during the past week, including Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), and Da’esh. The attacks killed several Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel and destroyed a number of buildings. Additionally, Da’esh cells in Deir ez Zor threatened to kill local residents for cooperating with Kurdish internal security forces (Asayish) or failing to pay extortion money. Lastly, the SDF honored 9 members of the Anti-Terror Units (YAT) who were killed in a helicopter crash on March 15. Thousands of SDF supporters traveled to Hasakah to attend the ceremony and pay their respects. 

• The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria released a report on March 22 that stated Turkey and its proxies were responsible for numerous “arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, rapes, kidnappings, and instances of looting.” On March 23, 32 political parties and organizations from northeastern Syria held a press conference in Qamishli to denounce the Jinderes Massacre, where Turkish proxies killed four Kurds for celebrating Newroz on March 20, and demand the SNA be declared a terrorist organization. On March 27, the Syrian Democratic Council’s representative in the United States, Sinam Muhammad, requested a fact-finding committee be sent to Afrin to further investigate Turkey and its proxies’ crimes against humanity. Also on March 27, the Syrian Women’s Council issued a statement that condemned the Jindires Massacre and declared the incident was part of an organized genocide against Kurds in Afrin. 

•  On March 23, an Iranian loitering munition struck a U.S. base near Hasakah, killing one American military contractor and injuring another contractor and five U.S. military personnel. Hours earlier, Iranian-backed militias launched several rockets that struck the Conoco gas field in Deir ez Zor and residential areas near the al Omar oil field. The Iranian-backed Liwa al-Ghaliboun claimed responsibility for the attack three days later. On March 24, U.S. airstrikes hit several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sites and allegedly killed or wounded 13 IRGC personnel. Iran’s proxies responded by firing rockets at three U.S. facilities, but none of these attacks resulted in American casualties. U.S. President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would “act forcefully” to protect Americans in the region. In a separate statement, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby confirmed the U.S. had no intention of withdrawing from Syria and would continue its counter-Da’esh mission.  

Turkey

• On March 22, three Turkish police officers abducted and tortured a 14-year-old boy in Diyarbakir (Amed). The officers forced the boy to sing the Turkish national anthem and say, “I am Turkish.” The officers then muzzled the boy, tied him up, tortured him, left him in a ditch, and threatened his father after he was taken to the hospital. Turkish police also detained 187 protesters in Diyarbakir for chanting slogans associated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) during Newroz celebrations.

• The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) confirmed it will run in May’s elections under the banner of the Green Left Party (Yeşil Sol ) on March 22. The Green Left Party will run as part of the Labor and Freedom Alliance, which is comprised of the Labor Party (EMEP), the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP), the Federation of Socialist Assemblies (SMF), the Labor Movement Party (EHP), and the Social Freedom Party (TÖP). The HDP will not have a presidential candidate in a step towards cooperation with the main opposition coalition known as the “Table of Six” and serves as a preemptive measure against the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) attempt to shutter it. Increased cooperation between the Labor and Freedom Alliance and the “Table of Six” could deliver a major blow to the AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s election chances, as recent polls show Erdogan trailing the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, by a margin of 55 to 44 percent.