Kurdistan’s Weekly Brief April 5

Turkey (Bakur or North of Kurdistan)

Turkish fighter jets hit Komuta village and Bukriska village surroundings last night. While two houses were destroyed in the attack, villagers protested the silence of Southern Kurdistan administration.
Turkish police prevented the people from Amed, Siirt and Batman from marching to Amara in order to participate in the celebration of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s birthday. Police officers detained more than 60 people and took them to the Anti-Terror Police Branch in Siverek.
Heavy bombing and clashes continue non-stop in the areas of self-rule in Şırnak province. Several houses have caught fire and İsmetpaşa neighborhood has witnessed heavy clashes for the last week. With the bombings, heavy clashes erupted between state forces trying to enter the neighborhoods and members of Civilian Defense Units YPS/YPS-JIN.

Syria (Rojava or West of Kurdistan)

YPG Media Center issued a written statement on the attacks of ISIS gangs across Rojava. YPG stated that the ISIS assault on Şedadê’s Mekmen village has been continuing without a pause since April 1. Furthermore, the gangs attacked the Girê Sor region to the south of Jarablus and Kobanê’s Şêxler town at 06:00 on April 2. YPG reported that two of its Asayish forces were martyred during this attack, and the number of ISIS casualties has not yet been determined. One Katyusha rocket ramp was destroyed during the YPG counter-operation at 15:10 on the same day.
Death toll rose to 9 in the attack conducted by Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and ENKS on Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêx Meqsûd) neighborhood of Aleppo city. Reports say dozens of civilians are trapped under the rubble caused by the attacks. Neighborhood is intensifying. The death toll has risen to 9, while 17 people got wounded and dozens more remain trapped under the rubble.

Unknown Warplanes targeted one of the Jaysh Al Thwar’s (Army of Revolutionaries) positions in Tel Riffat. Jaysh Al Thwar issued a statement of the truce violation.
A representation office of Rojava’s YPG/ YPJ (People’s / Women’s Defense Units) has been opened in Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic. Representing Rojava cantons, Cizîr Canton Foreign Relations Commission Chairman Dr. Ebdilkerîm Umer, YPG Diplomacy Supervisor Nesrîn Ebdullah and YPG European Bureau representative Îman Derwêş were present at the opening ceremony.

Iraq (Bashur or South of Kurdistan)

Rashad Galali, Head of PUK office in Makhmour, told Millet Press on 30 March Iraqi army wouldn’t allow Peshmerga to participate directly in operations against ISIS in Makhmor area. Galai said that Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi arrived the town to check the progress of the operations.
Turkish jets violated Kurdish air-space on 31 March and bombarded several villages near Amedi. A source close to the area told PUKmedia that the airstrikes started at 10 AM and targeted alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in the area.
During a press conference in Baghdad, Kurdish MPs said that the Kurdish Representation would have to be dealt with according to its size and that they would not accept any deduction in their representation share in the Iraqi government.
The KRG Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs announced that 25 mass graves in Shingal have been discovered since its liberation from ISIS and its believed to contain remains of 1000 Shingal residents from Yazidi community.
Kurdish Yazidi doctor and activist received the “International Women of Courage Award” presented by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Tuesday.

Iran (Rojhelat or East of Kurdistan)

According to Amnesty International, the Kurdish prisoner Afshin Sohrab who is currently “serving a 25-year prison term in ‘internal exile’ at a remote prison in southern Hormozgan Province, is in urgent need of specialized medical treatment outside prison. He suffers from a life-threatening gastrointestinal condition, exacerbated by prolonged lack of adequate treatment.”
According to Amnesty International, “Iranian Kurdish farmer Yousef Kakehmami, already serving nine years in prison after two unfair trials, has been sentenced to a further five years in prison after writing a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran.”
A Kurdish Kolbar lost his life on March 26, 2016, while he was trying to cross the Choman river of Baneh. Kolbaris a term referred to those destitute people in Kurdistan who carry heavy items such as TVs, heaters, cigarettes, tires, clothing, textiles, drinks, etc. on their back from Bashur to Rojhelat and vice versa for a low wage. Border police, landmines, and rivers are the main causes of their death.