Kurdistan's Weekly Brief | October 24, 2023

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

Iran

Iranian border guards killed a Kurdish border porter (kolbar) near Marivan on Wednesday and injured five more in separate attacks near Nowsud and Baneh. Concurrently, a mine claimed the life of a Kurdish man in Iraqi Kurdistan near Chwarta. Meanwhile, the Iranian regime imposed a second death sentence on a jailed Kurdish activist in Urmia named Naib Askari for inciting rebellion. Likewise, a regime court in Senna sentenced the attorney representing Zhina Amini’s family to one year in prison for “propaganda.” The regime also sentenced a Kurdish activist from Senna named Mikael Manbari to six years in prison. Simultaneously, Iranian authorities banned a physician in Kermanshah from using social media for criticizing the government after the death of a pregnant physician. Lastly, the regime arrested several Kurdish activists in Senna, Qorveh, and Saqqez.

Iranian-backed militias targeted several U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on October 18. The attacks included simultaneous drone strikes on al Harir Air Base near Erbil and al Assad Air Base near Haditha. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported two drones were successfully intercepted, and a third caused minor injuries to several members of the U.S.-led Coalition. At least four attacks have targeted al Assad Air Base during the past week, and the recent string of drone and rocket strikes has coincided with threats from multiple Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) Commander Esmail Ghaani also visited Iraq and Syria shortly after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. The U.S. Department of State raised Iraq’s travel advisory level to four in response to the attacks and ordered all non-essential personnel to leave the country.

On Sunday, the Peshmerga clashed with the Iraqi military for control of three outposts evacuated by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) near Makhmour. Two Peshmerga and two Iraqi soldiers were killed during the fighting, and seven were wounded. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani formed an investigative committee after the incident, which was welcomed by the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. The Peshmerga officially control the area where the abandoned outposts are located, but Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed militias have been expanding their presence in the “Disputed Territories” since Iraqi Kurds voted in favor of an independence referendum in September 2017.

Iranian-backed militias attacked U.S. personnel stationed at the al Tanf garrison near the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border with several Shahed-101 drones. U.S. forces downed two of the drones before they could reach the base. Iranian proxies also launched two Fajr rockets at a U.S. base near the Conoco oil field in Deir ez Zor Governorate. The IRGC-affiliated Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance took credit for the al Tanf attack. Concomitantly, the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones in the Red Sea that were launched from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthi militia. Iranian proxies have launched an increasing number of attacks on U.S. interests in recent weeks to erode the U.S.’s willingness to support Israel’s campaign against Hamas and maintain a presence in the Middle East.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced it attacked three Turkish military bases near Tel Tamr in retaliation for Turkey’s ongoing campaign of aggression against northern Syria. The SDF Media Center issued a statement that read, “Within the framework of our legitimate right to respond to the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries’ attacks and aggressions, our SDF forces conducted on October 17, 2023, precise and qualitative operations targeting the Turkish occupation bases in the villages of al-Arba’in, al-Aliyah, and al-Manajir.” The statement also claimed the attacks inflicted casualties on Turkish forces.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) revealed Turkey’s campaign of air, drone, and artillery strikes targeting northeastern Syria from October 5-9 affected more than five million people by causing extensive damage to the region’s energy facilities and infrastructure. The AANES claimed 580 strikes targeted 104 sites and seriously damaged 11 power stations, 18 water pumping stations, two hospitals, 48 educational facilities, and three industrial facilities. One strike caused extensive damage to an Internal Security Forces (Asayish) military academy and killed 29 people. The AANES has called for the international community to take a clear stand against Turkey’s aggression and hold it accountable for its repeated violations of international law.

Turkish military forces raided a Kurdish wedding in Eskişehir and arrested 23 people after the Chief Prosecutor’s Office claimed that several songs played at the wedding contained “terrorist propaganda.” Turkey has a long history of cracking down on Kurdish culture under the guise of security and anti-terrorism. The Turkish government has also outlawed Kurdish music for decades and continues to assert it threatens the Turkish nation’s cohesiveness.
A Turkish lawyer working in refugee affairs named Mustafa Wafa disclosed that Turkish authorities forcibly deported thousands of Syrians detained during security operations by using fabricated signatures on forms of voluntary return. On October 21, the Turkish government deported over 520 Syrian refugees through the Bab al Salama, Tel Abyad, and Bab al Hawa border crossings in northern Syria, which pushed the total number of Syrians deported from Turkey in October to 9,000. Among the deported are numerous women and children who are sometimes forced back into active war zones. The Turkish government has ramped up efforts to deport Syrian refugees because such measures are popular with the Turkish electorate. Turkey is also using the resettlement of Syrian refugees to Arabize formerly Kurdish areas like Afrin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed Sweden’s NATO accession protocol and sent it to the Grand National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee for approval. The Grand National Assembly will vote on the measure if it is approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee. Sweden applied for NATO membership in 2022, but Turkey blocked the application because Ankara objected to Sweden’s supposed leniency towards PKK members on Swedish soil. Erdogan ceased his opposition after U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to sell Turkey F-16s, and negotiations between Erdogan, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg resulted in Swedish pledges to crack down on “terrorist” elements and support Turkey’s entry into the European Union (EU) as a member state.