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A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- The Iranian regime demanded the “disarmament” of several Iranian opposition parties in Iraqi Kurdistan after they were relocated in accordance with a recent Baghdad-Tehran security agreement. The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammed Bagheri, said, “The main agreement is not limited to a tactical change of these groups and transferring them to points far from the border, but rather stipulates that they are permanently removed from the weapon.” The Iraqi government has already relocated four Kurdish parties in Iraq, but some Kurdish leaders think Iran will eventually attempt to have the parties exiled from the region.
- In Tehran, a Kurdish teenager named Armita Geravand was viciously attacked by Iran’s morality police for not wearing a hijab while riding the metro with her colleagues. The assault left Armita Geravand hospitalized with severe brain injuries, resulting in her falling into a coma. Following the incident, Iranian security forces arrested Geravand’s mother, Shaheen Ahmadi, without a warrant. Simultaneously, the authorities attempted to suppress the details of the attack carried out by the morality police. This situation unfolds amidst a broader pattern of arrests and crackdowns in the Kurdish region, Rojhelat. Numerous Kurdish activists have been detained, including Assad Amiri and Kaiwan Rahimi in Saqqez, Ahmed Taklifi in Abdanan, Farzad Shiri and Kianosh Cheraghi in Diwandara, Melad Haiderian in Qorveh, and seven protestors in Tekab. Additionally, the regime’s courts have handed down harsh sentences, with Yousif Barki from Mehabad receiving a 40-month prison term, and a Kurdish writer being sentenced to a year behind bars.
Iraq
- Amid the ongoing budget disputes between Baghdad and Erbil, President Nechirvan Barzani urged the Iraqi government to promptly disburse the salaries of public employees, stating, ‘Salaries are a basic right of Kurdistan Region’s citizens that lies on Baghdad.’’ Barzani emphasized that the payment of employee salaries should not be treated as “headline news.” Meanwhile, Kurdistan’s oil exports remain halted, despite repeated statements by Turkish and Iraqi officials indicating a pending resumption.The losses are estimated to be six billion dollars for Iraq’s economy.
- Hadi al Ameri, leader of the Iranian-backed Badr Organization, issued a threat of potential attacks against the U.S. should it provide support to Israel in their conflict with Hamas. Additionally, in August, al Ameri warned the U.S. against maintaining any military forces or bases in Iraq, amidst reports of the U.S. planning to bolster its presence throughout the Middle East.
- Alongside attacks on the Kurdish region in Syria, Turkish forces launched numerous airstrikes in Iraqi Kurdistan, asserting their focus on targeting the PKK. Since 2015, Turkey has been responsible for the deaths of at least 104 civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan, with an additional 172 individuals sustaining injuries.
Syria
- Turkish drones, planes, and artillery struck almost 150 sites in northern Syria (Rojava) in 72 hours, severely damaging the infrastructure and oil production capacity of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). North Press’s Monitoring and Documenting Department reported the sites struck were 24 infrastructure buildings, 87 residential buildings, 24 military sites, 14 of which are owned by the Assad regime, six farms, three factories, a school, and a hospital. North Press also stated the sites were hit by 132 artillery and heavy weapon strikes, 21 airstrikes, and 55 drone strikes. The attacks killed 17 people, including 11 civilians, and wounded another 11, including eight civilians and one child. Moreover, on October 9th, a Turkish drone targeted the Internal Security Academy in Derik, resulting in the tragic loss of 29 officers, primarily from the anti-drug forces. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi strongly condemned these attacks, stating, “This is a brutal crime and a clear violation of human rights that demands our immediate attention.” He pledged to stand up against Turkish forces in response to this devastating incident.
- Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) General Commander Mazloum Abdi rejected Turkish claims that the two perpetrators of the October 1 Ankara suicide bombing had received training in Syria or passed through northern Syria into Turkey. Abdi’s statement was a response to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s claims the People’s Protection Units (YPG) were complicit in the Ankara attack. Meanwhile, a Turkish Ministry of National Defense official declared Ankara had not ruled out a ground operation in northern Syria in response to the October 1 attack. “Our only goal is to eliminate the terrorist organizations that pose a threat to Turkey. A ground operation is one of the options to eliminate this threat, but it is not the only option for us,” said the official. Turkey has repeatedly threatened to launch ground incursions into northern Syria during the past several years to ostensibly remove the YPG, which the Turkish government claims poses a grave threat to Turkey’s national security, from the Turkish-Syrian border. Turkish invasions of northern Syria in 2018 and 2019 resulted in swaths of SDF territory falling into the hands of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels that have perpetrated human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing against the region’s Kurdish population.
- The U.S. shot down a Turkish drone for the first time in northern Syria. Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder stated the drone had been conducting strikes in Hasakah Governorate and came dangerously close (less than half a kilometer) to U.S. forces before it was shot down by F-16 fighter jets. Ryder also asserted there was no evidence the drone was targeting American military personnel.This marks the third incident in which Turkish forces have targeted positions near US forces, with previous occurrences in 2019 in Syria and last April in Iraqi Kurdistan. Following the drone shootdown, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, vowed to seek revenge and declared, “The necessary action will unquestionably be taken when the time is ripe.”
Turkey
- Six Turkish lawyers’ organizations, Lawyers’ Solidarity, Lawyers for Democracy, the Society and Law Studies Foundation, Libertarian Democratic Lawyers, and the Istanbul branches of the Lawyers for Freedom Association and the Progressive Lawyers’ Association, issued a joint statement on Turkey’s attacks in northern Syria. The statement demanded an end to strikes on civilian targets and asserted the six organizations “call on Turkey to adhere to international agreements it is a party to and peacefully address the Kurdish issue with the relevant parties.” The statement further characterized the attacks as “war crimes” and described the Turkish military’s actions as “unacceptable.”
- Turkish police broke up protests in Istanbul commemorating the 25th anniversary of Abdullah Öcalan’s expulsion from Syria, which led to his jailing in Turkey that same year. The protesters gathered to protest the conditions of Öcalan’s incarceration on Imrali Island by chanting pro-peace, pro-Kurdish, and pro-Öcalan slogans. The protests were described as a “Freedom March” and included members of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), Green Left Party, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Democratic Regions Party (DBP), and numerous civil society organizations. The police cracked down on the gatherings by surrounding Green Left Party deputies and arresting multiple participants, some of whom tried to climb the Kadıköy Bull Statue.