An armed clash between the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) guerrillas and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces in the Shaho Mountains, near Pawa, on October 21, 2024, left one IRGC member, Mohammad Ahmadpour, dead and two others injured, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Iranian government media outlets also reported Ahmadpour’s death, though it did not specify further details.
Two Kurdish activists from Iraqi Kurdistan, Aram Bahaddin and Rasul Reza Sharif, were sentenced by the Iranian authorities to a combined 22.5 years in Iranian prison. Arrested during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, they spent three months in solitary confinement without legal counsel. Initially sentenced to 15 years each, their terms were reduced to 11.25 years. They remain imprisoned in Sanandaj and Baneh. Moreover, Solmaz Hassanzadeh, whose brother was killed during protests, has been sentenced to a year in prison for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” Arrested on her brother’s birthday, she endured an eight-day hunger strike while detained. Concurrently, Adel Pirouzi, a former political prisoner from Marivan, has been sentenced to one year in prison for alleged ties to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. The 29-year-old has a history of imprisonment and harassment by the Iranian regime. Meanwhile, a Kurdish political prisoner Nayeb Askari, from Urmia had his death sentence commuted to 15 years in prison and a fine. Arrested in 2021 after returning to Iran, he was initially condemned for his former membership in the PJAK. Despite enduring solitary confinement and mistreatment, he remains imprisoned in Urmia Central Prison, where his health is deteriorating. Concomitantly, several arrests were made against Kurdish activists, including Keyvan Mohammadi, a 38-year-old Kurdish was arrested near Senna by Iranian intelligence on October 1st, 2024. His detention, which occurred just before the anniversary of his brother’s execution, has sparked concerns for his safety; two Kurdish men, Akam Amini and Milad Naseri, were arrested by Iranian intelligence in Bokan on October 23rd, 2024. The arrests, conducted without a warrant and involving violence, have left their families in the dark about their whereabouts and the reasons for their detention. Lastly, Ebrahim Ahmadnejad, a Kurdish Kolbar from Mahabad, was fatally shot by Iranian border guards on October 25, 2024, in Sardasht.
Iraq
The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced that over 70% of eligible voters participated in both the special voting on October 18 and the general voting on October 20 for the sixth cycle elections of the Kurdistan Parliament. The seat distribution is as follows: Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) received 39 seats, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) secured 23 seats, New Generation Movement garnered 15 seats, Kurdistan Islamic Union obtained 7 seats, Stance Movement (Halwest) received 4 seats, Kurdistan Justice Group got 3 seats, People’s Front claimed 2 seats, Change Movement (Goran) acquired 1 seat, Kurdistan Region Alliance secured 1 seat, and the Component Quota accounted for 5 seats. Additionally, IHEC opened a three-day window for parties to file appeals regarding the election results, ending on Sunday, November 3. Kurdistan’s President, Nechirvan Barzani, called for the swift formation of a government by the political parties to promote stability, economic development, and the advancement of rights, emphasizing the importance of unity and cooperation among all factions. It’s unclear whether the largest opposing group, the New Generation Movement, will join the next cabinet despite securing the majority of the opposition votes. Talks between the parties have not yet begun, particularly between the KDP and the PUK.
Syria
The Internal Security Forces of the Democratic Administration for North and East Syria (AANES) released statistics on Turkish attacks in the region on October 23, which continued for several days. According to the statement, Turkey launched 129 drones and 15 warplanes and fired 1,024 shells, resulting in a total of 1,168 attacks. There were 14 civilian deaths and 4 military deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 18. Additionally, 54 civilians and 14 military personnel were wounded, making the total number of wounded 68. The Turkish attacks targeted bakeries, power and oil stations, and internal security forces checkpoints responsible for protecting the population, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Turkish government characterized its attacks as retaliation for a bombing in Ankara that was claimed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The SDF General Commander, Mazloum Abdi, denied involvement in the Ankara attacks, emphasizing that there was “no relation or connection” to the incident and challenging the Turkish state to “provide evidence and proof” of the SDF’s involvement. Separately, the SDF have intensified their security operations against remnants of the ISIS (Da’esh) terrorist group amid ongoing Turkish military actions in the region. On October 29, SDF military operations teams executed an operation in the al-Hol camp, apprehending two Iraqi nationals identified as Khaled Mahmoud Ali and Abdullah Jamal Khalaf. Both individuals had previously joined ISIS in Iraq before infiltrating into Syria. According to the SDF, the detained suspects are alleged to have engaged in multiple terrorist activities targeting SDF forces, civilians, and self-administration institutions.
Turkey
After years of isolation imposed by the government on imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, his nephew, Omer Ocalan, a lawmaker from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), was finally allowed to visit him. According to Omer, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the PKK, supports a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish issue, especially as Turkey’s leaders hint at a new round of peace talks. Meanwhile, DEM Party leaders, including co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan, emphasized that peace in Turkey will contribute to stability in the Middle East. The DEM Party also condemned the recent bombing in Ankara and called on the government to cease its attacks on Syria’s Kurdish region. Ongoing discussions about a new peace process are further complicated by ultra-nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli’s suggestion to release Ocalan from prison. The government’s plans of peace remain unclear as Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seeks to amend the constitution amid speculation about his desire for new presidential terms.
