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A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- On October 19, the European Parliament posthumously awarded Zhina Amini the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Union’s (EU) highest award for human rights work. That said, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (VAJA) prevented Amini’s family from traveling to Strasbourg to receive the award. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KRHN) claimed that Iranian authorities confiscated the Amini family’s passports at the airport and informed the Aminis’ attorney that a travel ban was imposed on the family until January 20, 2024. Members of the European Parliament criticized the travel ban and described it as “preventing Iranians from speaking out about the Islamic Republic’s outrageous repression of women’s rights, human rights, and fundamental freedoms in Iran.” 116 European Parliament lawmakers called for the Iranian regime to rescind the ban and allow Amini’s family to travel to the European Parliament. On Separately, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that Iranian security forces injured a teenage border porter (kolbar) near Baneh on Saturday. Iranian authorities wounded another four kolbars in the same area on Wednesday.
Iraq
- Iranian-backed militias resumed attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq last week, launching five loitering munitions at the U.S. facility inside Erbil International Airport. According to Rudaw, debris from four drones was found near a residential area on Friday, one of which struck a vacant residential building. A U.S. defense system shot down the fifth drone. Pro-Iran militias also fired rockets at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Friday and launched several drones at Al Asad Air Base in Anbar Province on Monday. Subsequently, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani and discussed Iraq’s obligation to protect America’s “diplomatic personnel and Coalition advisors and facilities.” At the same time, the Kurdistan Region Security Council denounced the attacks and demanded the Iraqi government take responsibility for “stopping the outlaw groups.”
- The Iraqi government agreed to release 700 billion dinars as a “loan” to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). According to an agreement between Erbil and Baghdad, the loan amount will be deducted from KRG entitlements. KRG Minister of Finance Awat Sheikh Janab signed three contracts with Iraqi banks to secure loans that are intended to cover public employee salaries in Iraqi Kurdistan for September, October, and November. Despite the tentative agreement between the KRG and the Iraqi government, an Iranian-backed Iraqi lawmaker threatened to file a complaint with Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court against the banks providing loans to the KRG. The Federal Supreme Court has a history of ruling in favor of Iranian interests and against those of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Syria
- The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly (13-84) against a motion to discharge S.J.Res.51 from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday. S.J.Res.51 was introduced by Senator Rand Paul and would have required the withdrawal of all U.S. personnel from Syria whose presence was not approved by Congress within 30 days had it passed the House and Senate and been signed into law by the president. Senator Paul argued that the lack of a formal declaration of war by Congress made the U.S. mission in Syria illegal and claimed the recent string of Iranian attacks on U.S. bases in Syria proved American personnel are being subjected to unnecessary risks. The overwhelming bipartisan vote against advancing S.J.Res.51 makes it clear that ending the U.S. mission in Syria does not enjoy widespread support on Capitol Hill, however. The U.S. presence in Syria is vital for deterring future Turkish invasions of northeastern Syria and continuing the fight against ISIS (Da’esh).
- The U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS released a statement claiming over 4,400 Da’esh fighters and their relatives have been repatriated to their countries of origin from camps in northeastern Syria in 2023. The statement also praised the work of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) in facilitating the transfer of such individuals and acknowledged the value of repatriation in stating, “Approximately 47,000 individuals from more than 60 countries remain in displaced person camps, 60% of whom are children including nearly 5,000 under the age of five. Repatriation is the only enduring solution.” The AANES and the Coalition have stressed camps like al Hol are havens of insecurity and deprivation that Da’esh has exploited to recruit operatives and conduct terror attacks. The AANES’s calls for repatriation often go unanswered because many countries are hesitant to deal with the security concerns raised by repatriating Da’esh-linked individuals.
- Iranian-backed militias targeted four U.S. bases with multiple rocket barrages and loitering munitions launched from Iraq into Syria on December 8. The Islamic Resistance released a statement taking credit for the attacks on the al Omar and Conoco oilfields and the Kharab al Jir and al Shadadi bases in al Hasakah Governorate. Last week’s coordinated attacks in Iraq and Syria appear to show an Iranian willingness to escalate operations against U.S. interests in the Middle East to convince the U.S. to halt its support for Israel’s campaign in Gaza and withdraw from the region.
Turkey
- A local executive of the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) named Ahmet Gün was murdered by unknown assailants while he was traveling in a vehicle with his son in Şırnak on December 11. Gün’s son was injured in the attack, and the DEM Party claimed the Gün family had been receiving threats for some time. The DEM Party is the successor to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and changed its acronym from HEDEP to DEM after a court ruled HEDEP was too similar to the acronym of the Banned People’s Democracy Party (HADEP). Even though Gün’s attackers remain unidentified, his murder appears to mark an escalation of the Turkish government and its allies’ campaign of suppression against pro-Kurdish and opposition politicians and activists.
- Istanbul police detained Edanur Ibrahimoğlu, spokesperson for the DEM Party’s Youth Council and member of its Central Executive Board, at a rally on December 7. One police officer physically assaulted Ibrahimoğlu, reportedly punching her in the eye and causing it to swell shut. Istanbul police also arrested the co-chair of the DEM Party’s provisional association, Murkat Kalmaz, and 44 other individuals. The rally was organized and led by an alliance of political and civil society groups protesting Turkey’s ongoing military operations in northern Syria but was broken up by Istanbul police and anti-riot units.
- The Human Rights Inquiry Committee of the Grand National Assembly (İHİK) responded to an inquiry from the DEM Party regarding the status of imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan by asserting that “the application has been examined, and information has been requested from the Ministry of Justice and the Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses due to the mentioned situation.” The İHİK also responded to a request for an on-site inspection of İmralı Prison by saying, “The Subcommittee on Examining the Rights of Convicts and Detainees can carry out an on-site examination of the prison if such an action is deemed appropriate.” Öcalan has not been heard from for 33 months, and the status of his imprisonment has been subject to intense scrutiny from pro-Kurdish activists and international human rights organizations.