Kurdistan's Weekly Brief | November 7, 2023 | Washington Kurdish Institute

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

Iran

The Iranian regime executed a Kurdish man, Qasem Abasteh, who was originally sentenced to death in 2015 for “waging war against God.” Abatesh was accused of harboring Salafi beliefs, a charge he denied. The Iranian regime executed at least 78 people in October. Further, Iranian border guards wounded at least 10 Kurdish border porters (kolbars) near Nowsud, Marivan, and Baneh last week. Two more kolbars were severely injured by mines in Marivan and Baneh. According to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Iranian border guards killed three kolbars and wounded 23 in October. Separately, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited the Kurdish city of Senna on Thursday for the second time in a year amid the dire economic crisis the regime’s policies have inflicted on Iranian Kurdistan. Raisi oversaw the opening of a new railway between Senna and Hamadan, but activists denounced the visit and posted slogans protesting Raisi and the Iranian government’s policies toward Kurds. Raisi’s visit coincided with the arrest of Kurdish activists in Salas-e Babajani, Mehabad, Awdanan, Senna, Jwanru, and Saqqez.

On November 1, Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) released statistics showing no oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan went through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline in October. Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil exports have been halted since the International Chamber of Commerce issued a ruling favoring Iraq over Turkey and suspending the exports in March 2023. The SOMO report did show 130,501 barrels were successfully transported from the Qarara field, which falls under the jurisdiction of Kirkuk’s oil company, to Basra for export via oil tankers in October, which generated $75,247,183 in revenue.

NBC News reported Iranian-backed militias have attacked U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria 38 times since October 17. On November 5, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani in Baghdad and urged him to hold all of those responsible for the attacks accountable. Blinken also reminded the Iraqi government to fulfill its commitment to protect all installations hosting U.S. personnel. In addition, a U.S. official told Kurdistan 24 that U.S. forces successfully intercepted several drones near al Assad Air Base. Furthermore, on November 7, the Kurdistan Counter Terrorism Directorate issued a statement reporting that three explosive-laden drones had targeted a US facility within the confines of Erbil International Airport during two separate attacks. Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski visited Iraqi Kurdistan and met with several top officials. “I visited the KRI [Iraqi Kurdistan Region] on November 1 to emphasize the U.S. commitment to the region, ensure continued security cooperation, and work together to prevent attacks on U.S. interests,” said Romanowski.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) disclosed Iranian proxies have attacked U.S. bases in Syria 23 times since October 18. The Iraqi “Islamic Resistance Movement” has claimed credit for most of the attacks, which are intended to limit the U.S.’s willingness to support the Israeli campaign against Hamas and eventually expel U.S. forces from the Middle East. NBC News divulged at least 45 Americans have been injured in attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq and Syria so far.

Many Afrin residents are now unable to afford olive oil because of Turkish proxies’ increasing involvement in the olive trade. Turkish-back groups’ smuggling of olive oil into Assad regime-controlled territory and Turkey has driven up the price of a single container by over one hundred percent since 2022. Additionally, some locals have expressed concern the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and other groups’ exploitation of the olive trade may harm the future prospects of Afrin’s olive industry. Olive oil exported to Turkey is often repackaged and sold in other countries with no indication it originated in Afrin, which means Turkey, not northern Syria, receives recognition for the product’s quality.

Pro-Assad regime fighters and Iranian-backed militias continued attempting to assault and undermine the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) in Deir ez Zor Governorate. Additional mortar and artillery attacks originating on the west side of the Euphrates River targeted the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)-controlled town of Dhiban, killing a woman and her four-year-old daughter and injuring a man and his child. The conflict began when the SDF dismissed and arrested one of its commanders, Abu Khawla, for allegedly collaborating with the Assad regime. Khawla’s arrest led to a tribal uprising among his supporters that Damascus and Tehran have exploited in an attempt to overthrow the AANES and reclaim all of northeastern Syria.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report titled “The Full Costs of Turkey’s Bombing Campaign in Northeast Syria” on November 6. The report outlined the atrocities committed by Turkey against civilians during its military campaigns in northern Syria and emphasized civilians, not the People’s Protection Units (YPG) or Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), are bearing the brunt of Turkey’s attacks. The report also detailed how Turkey’s campaigns have severely damaged the region’s infrastructure and concluded Turkey failed to take proper precautions to avoid civilian casualties. The report then recommended Turkey investigate strikes that kill civilians to provide victims with accountability. Turkey’s record on Kurdish issues in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey makes such investigations highly unlikely, however.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) announced that Turkish authorities arrested a former HDP lawmaker, Huda Kaya, at Istanbul Airport while she was attempting to travel abroad. Turkish media claimed Kaya’s detention is linked to the Kobani protest case. Kaya’s attorney asserted that she was in the process of appealing an arrest warrant that was issued on September 27, and Turkish authorities disregarded the appeal and the fact Kaya made no attempt to flee from justice by arresting her 10 minutes before her flight departed. The HDP described the arrest as unlawful and arbitrary. Kaya’s arrest is the latest in a string of Turkish government actions targeting politicians and activists who oppose the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey’s largest opposition party, deposed longtime leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu at its congress on November 5. Kilicdaroglu received blame for the CHP’s disappointing loss to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP in May, an election many initially thought the CHP would win. Kilicdaroglu will be replaced by Ozgur Ozel, a former pharmacist and relatively unknown member of the party until Sunday. Rudaw described Ozel as “a deputy parliamentary group chairman of the CHP who speaks German and English.” Ozel is also a former head of the Turkish Pharmacists’ Association and was first elected to the Grand National Assembly in 2011.