1.3K
A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- Protests continue in the Kurdish region over workers’ unpaid wages and salaries. On Sunday, a number of teachers from three Kurdish cities (Marivan, Sanandaj, and Saqqez) held protests over unpaid wages and low salaries. The protests are the third major protest nationwide since last year. In Lorestan, tens of cement plant workers held a strike in response to three months of unpaid wages.
- In Urmia, the Iranian security forces detained a Kurdish teacher, Paiman Naqshabandi, for “propaganda against the Islamic republic.” In Sanandaj, the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a Kurdish civilian activist Mokhtar Zeraei to three years in prison for “organizing protests and cooperating with enemies against the national security.” Last year, Zeraei protested the execution of a Kurdish man, Ramin Penahi. Prior to this sentence, Zeraei was sentenced to two years in prison for offending the “dignity of the Supreme Leader.” In Kermanshah, Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) arrested a Kurdish singer, Saman Jarjis, for recording songs about Kurdistan and the Kurdish regions.
- Last week, more casualties were recorded among the border porters known as Kolbars. On Friday, after being trapped for several days in the snow in Chaldiran district, one Kolbar died of freezing and two were wounded. The same day, near the Kurdistan region of Iraq’s border in Haji Omaran, Iranian border guards injured two Kolbars while attempting to cross the border with goods. On Sunday, near Piranshahr, one Kolabr was shot to death by Iranian guards while carrying goods. Since the beginning of 2019, there have been 15 Kolbars killed as they continue their risky work due to poor living conditions in Iranian Kurdistan.
Iraq
- After a dispute over the September 2018 Parliamentary election to form the government, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) signed an agreement on Monday after their meeting in Sulaymaniyah. In a press conference, a KDP spokesperson praised the agreement and described it as “beneficial for the people of Kurdistan.” The PUK spokesperson described the agreement as a “historical event.” Despite not announcing the details of the agreement, both KDP and PUK officials revealed that the agreement includes expediting the formation of the government, uniting positions on the issues with the federal government, and adopting a united foreign policy for the KRG. In addition, the parties said the agreement included a plan to work toward the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk province by holding talks with Baghdad and other relevant parties. The agreement will be implemented between the two parties via a committee assigned by them. The agreement is a four year understanding between the two parties and it was signed in Arbil by the deputy head of the PUK (Kosrat Rasul), the Deputy President of the KDP, and the current Prime Minister of the KRG Nechirvan Barzani. In reaction to the announced agreement, the Change Party (Gorran) “welcomed the agreement.”
Syria
- Last week, hundreds more of families of ISIS surrendered to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Bagouz town. On March 3, after tens of terrorists held civilians as human shields and refused to surrender, the SDF launched a final battle. On Monday night, 200 ISIS foreign terrorists surrendered to the SDF while tens more were killed. On Monday night, the media director of the SDF Mustafa Bali said the SDF stopped the continuation of the final attack and helped open a corridor for civilians to flee. Last week the SDF also liberated 24 of their fighters who were captured by ISIS last month as well as 22 Yazidi women and children. Since the collapse of the ISIS “Caliphate,” the SDF holds hundreds of ISIS terrorists, including a significant number of foreigners from Europe and elsewhere.
- The Turkish-backed Jihadist groups who occupy the Kurdish region of Afrin continue their human rights abuses against the civilian population, according to a recent report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Right (SOHR). The report sheds light on numerous instances of robberies of and theft from Kurdish farmers. The report also includes details on children “being taught and forced to raise the slogan of the ‘Grey Wolves’ of the Turkish Nationalist Party.” The occupation of the Afrin region last year by jihadist groups, backed by the Turkish military, resulted in the death of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands.
- In Manbij, the local security office detained a Turkish-backed Jihadist sleeper cell. In a statement, the Manbij Military Council (MMC) said: “the Counter-Terrorism Unit has raided the places of their headquarters” and that many mines and equipment were being discovered. The MMC said this equipment was being used by factions of “Euphrates Shield” for plans to launch terror operations in Manbij City.
- The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph F. Dunford held a meeting with his Russian counterpart Gen. Valery Gerasimov in Vienna to talk about the situation in Syria and relations between the U.S. and Russia. According to a statement by Joint Staff Spokesperson Col. Patrick Ryder, “both leaders recognize the importance of maintaining regular communication to avoid miscalculation and to promote transparency and deconfliction in areas where our militaries are operating in close proximity.” Russian and American troops are in close proximity to each other in Syria at various locations. While the U.S.-backed SDF continues its fight against ISIS, the Russians continue to support the Assad regime and its quest to regain total power and control of Syria.
Turkey
- As the parties prepare for upcoming local elections on March 31, Turkish authorities arrested more Kurds from the Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). On Wednesday, the Turkish anti-terror police raided the offices of the HDP in Nazilli town in Aydin Province. During the raid, the police arrested the head of the HDP branch Sinan Bayrek. The police also confiscated cell phones and computers. On Sunday in Diyarbakir (Amed) the police raided an HDP gathering and detained five HDP members. The detainees were on a hunger strike demanding the government end the isolation of the imprisonment of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and other political prisoners in Turkey. In Esenler district Istanbul, the HDP election office was attacked. The perpetrators of this attack remain unidentified. The hunger strikes continue in many Kurdish cities of Turkey and across Europe. Meanwhile, Kurdish politician Leyla Guven is on the 118th day of her hunger strike.
- The HDP Co-chair Sezai Temelli called on the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to apologize for his recent remarks against the Kurds. Sezai said that Erdogan “insulted Kurdish values and existence.” Last week Erdogan publically told the HDP that “if you love it so much, then get out of Turkey” and “go to Northern Iraq” because “Kurdistan is there.”