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A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- The Iranian regime officially reactivated the “morality police”, which was created to enforce Islamic dress codes for women, ten months after the start of anti-government demonstrations protesting the death of Zhina Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Amini died at the hands of the morality police. On December 4, 2022, Iran’s chief prosecutor falsely claimed the regime was shutting down the morality police. The U.S. Office of the Special Envoy for Iran denounced the regime’s decision and said, “It seems the regime has learned nothing from the protests. Women and girls everywhere should be allowed to wear whatever they want.”
- The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) clashed with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants along the Iranian-Turkish border near Khoy. Hengaw also stated the Iranian military has been subjecting the areas surrounding Khoy to intense artillery bombardment.
- A member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) named Siamand Shaboie was assassinated north of Erbil on Wednesday. Shaboie was from Shinno, joined the party as a teenager, and was a vocal opponent of the Iranian regime. Several Kurdish parties accused Iran of perpetrating the assassination, but no one has officially claimed responsibility yet. Separately, Iranian security forces killed a Kurdish man from Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan who was helping to extinguish a wildfire near Bamo Mountain. This coincided with Iranian authorities’ arrest of dozens of civilians and former protestors in Senna, Saqqez, Piranshahr, Bokan, Mehabad, Mehabad, and Marivan. Concurrently, the regime summoned 54 attorneys for expressing support for the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini and releasing images, documents, and films. Lastly, the regime executed five Kurds in Naqadeh, Urmia, and Lorestan.
Iraq
- On July 17, a Turkish drone reportedly crashed in Sulaimanyah’s Ranaya District. On the previous day, Turkish drone strikes injured a child in Bradost. Turkish drone strikes in Duhok on July 16-17 threatened the livelihoods of local farmers by causing several uncontrollable fires on agricultural lands. An Iraqi lawmaker named Ali Saedi responded by calling the attacks a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and criticizing the Iraqi government’s silence on the ongoing Turkish incursions that have killed over 110 civilians and injured at least 187 since 2015.
- On July 12, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) appealed articles 2, 11, 12, and 13 of Iraq’s new budget law. The KRG lawsuit claims the articles violate articles 110, 111, 112, 114, and 115 of the Iraqi Constitution. Article 115 addresses powers shared between the KRG and the Iraqi government, and the KRG’s primary legal complaint stems from the budget bill’s requirement that the KRG provide 400,000 barrels of oil per day to the federal government in exchange for its share of the national budget. As things stand, the Iraqi government will pay the financial entitlements of the KRG until the Federal Supreme Court rules on the matter. Kahlil Doski, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Kurdistan Parliament’s Finance Committee, said both the KRG and Ministry of Finance are against some of the articles of the budget. The KRG may have a strong legal argument against the disputed articles, but its prospects for a favorable outcome are slim due to the Federal Supreme Court’s history of ruling against Kurdish constitutional rights.
- On July 12, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the freeze on oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan, stating, “We [Turkey] have no problems with receiving Iraqi oil. The current problem is the conflict inside Iraq between the central government and the northern government of Iraq. When these problems are eliminated, we are in favor of opening oil pipelines.” Iraqi authorities rejected Erdogan’s claims, and Iraq’s Minister of Petroleum said there was no political issue between the KRG and the Iraqi government, instead asserting Turkey does not want to resume exports until the Iraqi government forgives the damages the International Court of Commerce ruled Turkey owes Iraq for the unauthorized import of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan. Though several alternatives have been discussed, including the export of oil to Iran and Jordan, Sabah Subhi, a member of the Oil and Energy Committee of the Council of Representatives, told Kurdistan 24 it is unlikely any of the alternatives will be implemented soon.
Syria
- On July 16, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al Sudani met with Syrian President Bashar al Assad in Damascus. While Iraq has maintained ties with Syria throughout the Syrian Civil War, relations between the two nations have improved during the Arab League’s normalization of the Assad regime. Sudani and Assad discussed a range of issues, including cross-border drug trafficking, the return of Syrian refugees from Iraq, the removal of Western sanctions on Syria, Israeli attacks on Syrian soil, and water shortages caused by Turkey’s control of the Euphrates. President Erdogan also expressed his willingness to meet with Assad and normalize relations, but Turkey refuses to accept Syria’s demands to pull Turkish forces out of northern Syria.
- On July 13, the Assad regime said it would allow the United Nations (UN) to continue using the Bab al-Hawa border crossing to deliver humanitarian aid to earthquake-devastated parts of northwest Syria for six months. That said, the regime prohibited the UN from communicating with any entities the Syrian government designates as “terrorists” and demanded all UN aid be delivered “in full cooperation and coordination with the Syrian government.” The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) called the Assad regime’s stipulations “unacceptable.” Russia vetoed a nine-month extension of the aid operation in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on July 10.
- On July 17, Turkish-backed factions in Afrin arrested four civilians for completing their mandatory civil and military service when the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) controlled the city. Turkey also continues to deny water to residents of al Hasakah Governorate. Yasser al Sulaiman, deputy co-chairman of the General Council of the AANES called for the UN to denounce Turkey’s ongoing water cuts and previously declared areas affected by the cuts to be disaster zones.
Turkey
- Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, embarked on a three-day visit to Arab Gulf States, which included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, in an effort to secure financial support for Turkey’s struggling economy. Accompanying Erdogan were numerous businessmen as part of his delegation. Additionally, following a meeting with Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to purchase Turkish drones. Erdogan’s visit comes at a time when the Turkish lira has reached record lows amid government austerity measures and an increase in taxes, such as a 200% hike on fuel prices.
- Kurdish communities across Europe are preparing to organize rallies and conferences commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Lausanne Treaty, which resulted in the denial of Kurdish statehood. “Before the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Erdoğan released a 7-point agreement, showing deference to the impositions of the Turkish state and wholesale disregard for the laws and democratic traditions of Sweden and international human rights conventions. Once again, Turkey used its NATO membership to blackmail democratic nations and obtain a green light for its dictatorial policies and campaigns of military aggression and genocide targeting the Kurdish people.” Read the statement by the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) on the treaty’s anniversary.