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Iran
- After a gory 2018, last week saw the continuance of Iranian border guards attacks against the Kurdish border porters known as Kolbars. On January 3, one Kolbar was shot and wounded near Baneh. On January 4, a Kurdish Kolbar named Yaquob Kamyan was killed by direct fire from the Iranian border guards near Urmia. In addition, on Jan 4 on two separate incidents, two Kolabrs were shot and wounded in Sardasht and Warmia. In 2018, 71 Kolbars were killed while 231 were wounded.
- On Jan 2, the security forces of Bokan city raided the office of Welat, an environmental organization. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), the Iranian security forces shut down the organization and disposed of their furniture. Prior to the raid, Welat spoke out over attempts from the Islamic mayorship and the local council of Bokan city to close the organization. Welat was established several years ago and has contributed to important environmental work in the Kurdistan region of Iran. The KMMK also reported the arrest of a Kurdish environmental activist (Essa Faizi) from Kamyaran on January 5 by the Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) and was taken to an undisclosed location. On January 1, the Ettela’at arrested three civilians activists in Mehadab.
- After a general strike by political prisoners in Turkey against the isolation of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and the conditions of the prisoners, Kurdish political prisoners in several Kurdish cities also held a one-day strike in solidarity on January 5. Kurds make up the largest portion of political prisoners in Iran since the establishment of the Iranian regime in 1979.
- On January 6, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Kurdish province of Kermanshah and the Kurdish region of Iran. Tens of people were hospitalized due to injuries while some buildings were damaged. Kermanshah faced three major earthquakes in two years.
Iraq
- Amid deepening disputes between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union Party (PUK), no progress has been made between the two parties over the formation of the government. A planned third round of talks between the KDP and the PUK was canceled. Other than the formation of the government, the disputes include the post of the governor of Kirkuk province and the Kurdish share of federal government positions.
- In Kirkuk, on December 26, the Kirkuk court sentenced the head of the Provincial council Rebwar Talabani to six months in prison for spending the local budget “outside” the legal frames. Talabani left Kirkuk on October 16, 2017, when the Iranian backed militias attacked and controlled the province after the Independence Referendum held by the Kurdistan region. Talabani, in a press conference, vowed to appeal the ruling at Iraq’s Supreme Court as he denied the allegation. He described the Kirkuk court decision as “political” while his party of the Islamic Union (Yakgirtu) released a statement rejecting the sentence and calling it “a decision that is not based on rule of law.” The former President of the Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani also described the ruling as “a purely political decision and irrelevant to the issue of justice and law.” Meanwhile the PUK attempted to elect a new provincial council head by reaching agreements with the Arabs and the Turkmen amid the KDP’s rejection of returning to Kirkuk after the events of October 16, 2017.
- In Kirkuk, a security source told Kurdistan24 that the U.S.-led coalition conducted an air strike against a group of ISIS terrorists in Haweja district in Kirkuk province. According to the report, two senior terrorists were killed during the air raid.
- After reaching a settlement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Dana Gas PJSC received its fourth payment of 102 USD million dollars this past December. The company has a contract with the KRG to explore and produce natural gas.
Syria
- The Syrian Democratic Forces supported by the US-led coalition continued a slow-paced advance against the last stronghold of ISIS east of Euphrates. On Wednesday the SDF were able to destroy tunnels used by ISIS terrorists near al Shafa town where ISIS poses intense resistance. The SDF also seized a large number of weapons and ammunition from both al Shafa and Hajin fronts. While mass displacement takes place as thousands of civilians are fleeing ISIS-controlled areas, the SDF detained a foreign ISIS cell among the displaced families. In the terror cell, five terrorists were arrested including two American citizens: Warren Christopher Clark, nicknamed “Abu Mohammed the American” from Houston, Taxes and Zaid Abdel Hamid, nicknamed (Abu Zaid the American). Among the terrorists were two Pakistanis and one Irish.
- After President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, two separate Kurdish delegations headed to Moscow and Damascus to hold talks with Russia and the Syrian regime. The Kurdish move came as a precautionary step to avoid a repeat (on a more devastating and larger scale) of the Turkish invasion of the Afrin region last March. However, the U.S. National Security adviser John Bolton announced his visit to Turkey and said ”we intend to defend the positions of those who fought alongside us.” He later stated in Israel that the withdraw from Syria in conditional to “defeating the remnants of the Islamic State group, and on Turkey assuring the safety of Kurdish fighters allied with the United States.” Meanwhile, as Turkish-backed jihadist forces spent last month reinforcing their positions for an attack on the Kurdish region of Syria, the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that President Trump laid out “the importance of ensuring that the Turks don’t slaughter the Kurds” after the U.S. withdraws from Syria. After Brett McGurk’s resignation as the President’s envoy to counter ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. administration has appointed Ambassador James Jeffrey to replace him.
- After remarks by President Trump accusing the “Kurds” of selling oil to Iran, the prominent Syrian politician and former head of the largest party, Salih Muslim, denied the allegation. Muslim said “there are no sales of oil to any side outside of Syria.” Muslim also emphasized that there is no border between Iran and Syria and so “no way” for the Syrian Kurds to trade oil without going through hostile territory.
Turkey
- After several meetings among eight Kurdish political parties in Turkey, on January 7, eight Pro-Kurdish parties united under one list to run for the provincial elections in Turkey on March 31. The unification of the different parties came after mass arrests against Kurdish activists in the Kurdish region of Turkey by the government to discourage the Kurdish population from voting. The parties included the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Democratic Regions Party (DBP), Kurdistan Democrats, Kurdistan Communist Party, Freedom and Humanity Party, Kurdistan Islamic Movement (Azadi), and Revolutionary Kurdish Democratic Association.
- More arrests took place against pro-Kurdish activists and party members last week. The Turkish police detained five Kurds, members of DBP in Istanbul. In Yenisehir district in Diyarbakir, the security forces detained 10 Kurds including minors on January 3. On security, the Turkish military declared a curfew on the districts of Diyarbakir province (Amed) in order to conduct a military operation. The curfews were announced in Lice, Hani, and Kocaköy districts.