Kurdistan's Weekly Brief | October 17, 2023 | Washington Kurdish Institute

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

Iran

On the 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights announced that the Iranian regime has so far executed 538 people in 2023. Iran carries out more executions than all other nations, except China. The regime sentenced a Kurdish man named Riza Rasai to death last week for allegedly killing a security officer during anti-government protests. Rasai has denied the charges and said he was forced to confess to the crime under torture. At the same time, several Kurdish activists were arrested in Mehabad and Abdnan.

According to Rudaw, a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation will visit Baghdad and meet with the Iraqi Minister of Finance and the Council of Representatives Finance Committee to discuss “technical issues” with the Iraqi government’s provision of funds for public employee salaries in Iraqi Kurdistan. The KRG has asserted it met the conditions required for Baghdad to deliver the salaries, but says the funds are “entangled in political disputes.” Concurrently, Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil exports through Turkey remain paused despite repeated claims from Iraqi and Turkish officials that they will resume very soon. The export pause has already cost Iraq more than seven billion dollars.

The Iraqi Army’s 11th Division stormed the Tobzawa camp in Kirkuk Governorate and issued eviction warnings to Kurdish residents of Tobzawa village. The Ba’athist regime’s Ministry of Defense once ran the camp, which was the site of numerous crimes against Iraqi Kurds, most notably genocide, in 1988. The post-Saddam Iraqi government has faced criticism since 2003 for refusing to return the land to locals. “The Tobzawa Camp is a symbol of the brutality of the fascist al Ba’ath regime. Each corner of this camp tells us a tragic tale of the Anfal crimes,” read a joint statement from dozens of human rights organizations and activists. The statement also said the Iraqi government has a “legal and moral” responsibility to turn the camp into a museum to commemorate the victims of the Anfal Campaign.

Only 50 Kurdish residents remain in the city of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) four years after Turkey’s October 2019 invasion of northeastern Syria, known as Operation Peace Spring. The city was previously home to over 80,000 Kurds, and local sources have stated many Kurds are among the city’s 150,000 displaced residents. Sari Kani previously had a population of over 175,000, and its displaced are being replaced by Iraqis and Syrians from places like Idlib. At least 72 Syrian families resettled in Sari Kani have been linked to ISIS (Da’esh).

Turkish planes, drones, and artillery continued striking targets in northeastern Syria last week. North Press reported the strikes have hit 29 infrastructure facilities, 185 residential areas, 38 military sites, including 25 Assad regime targets, seven agricultural sites, three factories, and a hospital during the past ten days. The strikes have caused 24 civilian casualties, including nine deaths, and killed 33 Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) military personnel. Another 39 AANES personnel were wounded by the attacks.

Deir ez Zor’s AANES-affiliated Civil Administration announced a curfew in areas under its control. The curfew will consist of two phases and was imposed in response to the ongoing security challenges facing the region. Most recently, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dismantled a booby-trapped motorcycle in a town in eastern Deir ez Zor Governorate. Deir ez Zor has seen an uptick in violence since the SDF arrested a former SDF commander named Abu Khawla, who was beginning to cooperate with the Assad regime. Tribal fighters loyal to Khawla and militias backed by Damascus and Tehran are now waging an insurgency and perpetrating terror attacks to undermine and eventually overthrow the AANES.

Russia claimed it repatriated 34 children from camps holding Da’esh suspects in northeastern Syria and said it plans to repatriate another 150 in the coming weeks. Over 4,500 Russian nationals traveled to Syria to fight for Da’esh during the organization’s peak from 2013 – 2018. The SDF detained thousands of suspected Da’esh fighters and their relatives during the U.S.-backed campaign to defeat the organization. Over 50,000 Da’esh members and relatives remain detained in al Hol camp in Hasakah Governorate, and thousands more are still held in the Roj camp. The AANES has repeatedly requested the detainees’ countries of origin repatriate them, but few have heeded this call.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Green Left Party changed its name to the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP). The new name was voted upon by members at the party’s congress. Tulay Hatimogullari and Tuncer Bakirhan were also elected as the party’s new co-chairs at the congress. The new name and congress are an attempt to rebrand a party that underperformed in Turkey’s 2023 elections and was seeking a new mission. The HEDEP will now serve as Turkey’s flagship pro-Kurdish party in elections because the country’s historical Kurdish party, the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), faces constant attacks from Turkish authorities and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The HEDEP accused the Turkish government of “conducting a perception management operation by distorting the facts,” after the Turkish government detained two party members for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the two HEDEP members, Ronahi Tunc and Hazal Karabey, were detained when they attempted to cross the Turkish-Iranian border in a vehicle belonging to a member of parliament from the Green Left Party named Heval Bozdag. A Green Left Party statement insisted Tunc and Karabey were traveling from Ankara to Agri to prepare for the party’s now-completed congress. The Turkish government has arrested over 2,500 people for alleged affiliation with the PKK in recent weeks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted the U.S.’s cooperation with the SDF threatens Turkey’s national security. Erdogan’s statement came after U.S. President Joe Biden, citing threats of Turkish invasion, extended a 2019 national emergency executive order on Syria. The Trump administration first issued Executive Order 13894, which also levels sanctions against certain Turkish officials and individuals, after Operation Peace Spring. “The activities carried out by the USA in this country [Syria] with the PKK’s extensions in Syria pose an extraordinary threat to Turkey’s national security,” said Erdogan. The U.S. has continually stymied Turkey’s attempts to invade northeastern Syria since October 2019, and Ankara has criticized Washington for its unwillingness to break ties with the SDF.