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A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- Tens of people been arrested by the Iranian regime in the most recent raids and detentions against Kurdish activists. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), tens of members of the National Unity party, which mostly advocates for environmental issues, was arrested in Sanandaj and Kamyaran. The detainees were taken by Intelligence officers (Ettelaa’t). On January 17, Iranian security officers also arrested two Kurds from Sanandaj and one from Oshnaviah (Shino), allegedly for connections with Kurdish opposition parties.
- Last week was another bloody week for the Kurdish border porters (Kolbars). On Tuesday, January 15 one Kolbar was killed and another was wounded by Iranian border guards near Urmia. In addition, on January 16 another Kolbar died of freezing temperatures in the mountains on the Iraqi-Iranian border near Urmia. Also, on January 19 another Kolbar was injured when he was shot at by Iranian guards near Piranshahr. In Baneh, two Kolbars were severely injured when they fell off a cliff while carrying goods. In Ravansar, one Kolbar was injured as a result of a mine explosion on the border.
- Teachers from a number of schools in Saqqez have been called in for investigation by the local security office for their participation in a general strike held in November of 2018. According to human rights groups, the security forces released the teachers after several hours of questioning about their strike against the living conditions of the teachers in the country. On Saturday, firefighters held a strike in protest of their unpaid salaries for three months in Sanandaj.
Iraq
- On Wednesday Sulaymaniyah public security (Asayesh) announced the arrest of a “dangerous” ISIS member in the city. According to the Asayesh, the ISIS terrorist fought alongside ISIS in Mosul against the security forces and fled to the Kurdistan region to hide. In Arbil, on Thursday, 8 people were detained by the Counter-Terrorism Directorate (CTD). According to a statement by the CTD, two among the detainees are ISIS members and six are suspects.
- After last week’s meeting between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Change Movement (Gorran) to form the government, a senior Gorran official told Rudaw that the party is seeking security and ministerial positions in the new cabinet. On Monday, a KDP delegation held meetings with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) for the fourth time about the new cabinet. The PUK spokesperson said that their recent meeting with the KDP “was not unresultful.” The KDP and PUK are also in the process of signing a 4-year long agreement in regards to governing, security, and foreign policies.
- A Kurdish lawmaker revealed to Kurdistan24 that a senior Iraqi military official agreed to allocate 168 billion IQD (about 150 US million) from the Minister of Defense’s budget to the Peshmerga forces’ salaries. The agreement came after a meeting of the Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi Parliament on Sunday. The Peshmerga federal budget has been an issue between Baghdad and Arbil since 2003.
- On Sunday, Turkish warplanes launched airstrikes near Saddian district northeast of Arbil near the Iranian-Turkish border. No casualties have been announced as the Turkish airstrikes were identified in the region. Turkey claims it is targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) locations in the region.
- In Kirkuk, unknown gunmen assassinated a member of the KDP by motorcycle on Wednesday. Jabar Aref, age 66, was assassinated while driving home from visiting a friend. No suspects have been detained by the police while some reports described his assassination as part of a larger targeting Kurdish figures in Kirkuk.
Syria
- On January 16, a suicide bomber blew herself upon in a restaurant in Manbij city targeting Kurdish and U.S. soldiers meeting there. The terror act resulted in the death of four Americans, including one Department of Defense (DoD) civilian and one contractor supporting DoD. Civilian casualties reached at least 13, while a number of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also fell in the attack. Since the explosion, the SDF arrested two ISIS cells inside the city of Manbij. On Monday, another suicide car bomb targeted a joint group of SDF and members of the U.S.-led coalition in Shadaddi- Deir Ez Zor. According to a spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), “no casualties” occurred during the terror attack.
- Last week, the SDF continued clashing with remaining ISIS terrorists in Hajin and Al Sousa. The SDF announced that 56 coalition airstrikes resulted in the death of tens of ISIS members and the seizure of weapons and ammo. On January 21, the SDF opened a corridor for 1600 civilians fleeing ISIS-controlled areas. The SDF also liberated a Yazidi woman (Elham Dahkil) had been abused and enslaved by ISIS terrorists since 2014.
- On the first anniversary of the invasion of Afrin by Turkey and its proxy Jihadi groups in Syria, thousands of Kurdish people displaced from Afrin protested and called for the liberation of their region. Since March 2018, the displaced Kurds have mostly resided in the rural areas of Aleppo after being pushed out of their homes by Jihadi groups and the Turkish military.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his country’s readiness to take over Manbij city after the U.S. withdraws its troops from Syria. Meanwhile, the Kurds are preparing for a new round of talks with the Syrian regime to reach an agreement and prevent the Turkish invasion of their region. The Kurdish road map included the Syrian government’s recognition of the rights of its minorities within one Syria; it also included the participation of the Kurdish region’s local government in the central government of Syria.
Turkey
- After holding a hunger strike for two weeks in order to raise awareness and end the Turkish state’s solitary confinement of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, a prominent Kurdish politician’s health has deteriorated. The politician, Leyla Guven, inspired thousands of other Kurdish political prisoners in Turkey and activists around the world also launched hunger strikes in solidarity. While many European lawmakers denounced Turkey’s isolation of Ocalan, the German government also asked the Turkish government to “comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.” Activists also held a rally in Diyarbakir calling on the Turkish government to end the isolation of Ocalan and other political prisoners. Meanwhile, the Turkish government continued its arrests of members of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and other Kurds active in politics. On Friday, Turkish police detained 15 people, including two elderly women (ages 67 and 66) in Izmir. In Van, Turkish police arrested 13 people, most of whom were affiliated with the HDP.