Kurdistan's Weekly Brief June 20, 2023

A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken contradicted several Iranian officials’ claims and denied the U.S. had reached any deal with Iran on its nuclear program. Meanwhile, Russia expressed its intent to finalize the establishment of a “free trade zone” with Iran and several other nations by the end of the year. It is worth noting that Russia and Iran have already reduced customs duties on hundreds of goods traded between each other. Iran has also supported Russia’s war in Ukraine and helped it evade Western sanctions.

The Iranian regime sentenced two Kurdish imams, Ibrahim Karimi and Loqman Amini, to prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime” for supporting anti-government protests in Senna last year. Karimi received a 12-year prison sentence, and Amini received a sentence of 11 years. The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights claimed the Iranian regime has dismissed 16 Kurdish imams since the protests began in September 2022. Twelve of the dismissed imams have received lengthy prison terms, and the other four are awaiting sentencing. Concurrently, Mehabad’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced four Kurdish protestors from Piranshahr to prison terms ranging from three to four years. Iranian authorities also arrested several Kurds in Saqqez, Mehabad, Urmia, Piranshahr, and Shabad.

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that Iranian border guards injured several Kurdish border porters (kolbar) during an altercation. Simultaneously, armed clashes between the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) erupted near Marivan and Swalawa. The IRGC confirmed one of its members was killed during the fighting, but the PJAK has released no official statement regarding the incident.

On June 12, Iraq’s Council of Representatives passed the nation’s three-year budget bill, which includes a record $153 billion budget for 2023. Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid is now expected to sign the bill into law within the next 5-10 days. In the event that the president does not sign the bill, it will be sent back to the parliament floor to undergo amendments and a voting process. Separately, President of Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani met with Iraq’s Independent High Commission of Elections to discuss this year’s upcoming Kurdistan Parliament elections. It has been speculated that the two sides discussed holding the elections sometime in November, but there is concern holding the Kurdistan Parliament elections in November could interfere with the provincial elections scheduled for December 18.
On June 19, Iraqi and Turkish delegations discussed resuming oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline. Exports have been halted since Iraq successfully sued Turkey for importing oil directly from Iraqi Kurdistan on March 25. Monday’s talks did not end with an agreement between the two sides, and several outstanding political and technical issues remain unresolved, including the damages the March lawsuit ruled Turkey owes Iraq. The ongoing oil export freeze is costing Iraqi Kurdistan 80 percent of its revenue and threatens to create a major economic crisis in the region.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights disclosed that Turkish drones have killed 24 people and injured another 28 in Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-controlled territory since June 1. One of the strikes targeted the Tal Rifaat hospital on June 18 and put thousands of lives at risk by halting life-saving medical operations and other essential procedures. Turkey’s recent escalation in northern Syria follows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s May 28 reelection and indicates his administration will prioritize operations targeting the AANES and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the coming months.

On June 14, Turkey, Iran, Russia, and Syria announced their deputy foreign ministers plan to meet in Astana on June 21 and attempt to create a roadmap charting the future of Syrian and Turkish relations. Relations between the Assad regime and Turkey remain strained by various unresolved issues, including the future of occupied Afrin, cross-border aid, and Kurdish autonomy. That said, the U.S. and its European allies remain opposed to Middle Eastern governments’ efforts to improve relations with Assad. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell postponed a meeting with the Arab League originally scheduled for June 19 and is pressuring its members not to reinstate the Assad regime.

On June 17th, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 40 ISIS (Da’esh)-affiliated Iraqi families would be repatriated to Iraq from Turkish-occupied northern Syria. The families were previously settled in Turkish-occupied zones by Turkish authorities. Further, corrupt National Army officers helped 37 Da’esh prisoners escape from a prison in Turkish-controlled Ras al Ain. Nearly half of the escapees may have been Da’esh commanders, and several local sources asserted they were dispatched to SDF-controlled areas to organize attacks. Turkish forces allegedly arrested five escapees and six prison guards following the escape, but several commentators cast doubt on the Turkish claims and accused Turkey of using the episode as a pretext for continuing its campaign of arbitrary arrests.

In a recent crackdown targeting the Kurdish population, Turkish authorities have detained five members of the pro-Kurdish Green Left Party (YSP) in Tekirdağ on charges of “membership of a terrorist organization.” Additionally, seven members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Sirnak and Dersim were arrested on similar allegations. These arrests are part of a larger pattern of removing elected Kurdish officials from power in the region, as demonstrated by the recent arrest of the co-mayors of the Patnos district in Agri province. “The arrest of co-mayors of Patnos demonstrates that the government, which has totally disrespected and destroyed the democratic will of Kurdish people since 2016, will continue its sheer unlawfulness in the times ahead.” Read a statement by the HDP’s Foreign Affairs. In a separate development, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favor of Kurdish politician Osman Baydemir, who was exiled by the Turkish government after using the term “Kurdistan” on the parliamentary floor in 2017. The ECHR has found that Baydemir’s rights were violated, and as a result, Turkey has been compelled to pay approximately 17,000 euros in compensation to the Kurdish politician.