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A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
- Iranians continued protesting the death of a Kurdish woman named Zhina Mahsa Amini last week. Amini died after being taken into custody by Iran’s morality police on September 16. Iranian security forces have responded to the unrest by killing at least 50 demonstrators, including 18 in Iranian Kurdistan, where the unrest began. Additionally, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that Iranian security forces wounded at least 898 Kurds in Oshnavieh (Shinno), Urmia, Kermanshah, Divandareh, Saqqez, Ilam, Dewalan, Piranshahr, and Eslamabad-e Gharb. Iranian authorities have also detained over one thousand activists and civilians. Concurrently, the Iranian regime shut down the internet across Iran and imposed curfews on Kurdish cities after protesters took control of Shinno. US Secretary of State Tony Blinken called for the Iranian regime to “end its systemic persecution of women and allow peaceful protest.” High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Joseph Borrell criticized the regime’s use of force. Simultaneously, the US sanctioned several Iranian security officials and issued Iran General License D-2 to facilitate Iranians’ access to the internet.
- Iranian artillery bombarded several areas near Bradost in Iraqi Kurdistan on two consecutive days. The attacks caused no reported casualties and targeted several Kurdish opposition groups in retaliation for the ongoing unrest in Iran. Meanwhile, the exiled Cooperation Center for Iranian Kurdistan’s Political Parties (CCIKP) expressed support for the protests but rejected their militarization and advocated they remain part of the “civilian struggle.”
Iraq
- Most of Iraq’s political parties agreed to form a government led by the Iranian-backed Coordination Framework. Several unconfirmed leaked articles from the agreement claimed Iraq’s Sunni and Kurdish parties agreed to join the Coordination Framework in forming a new alliance known as the State Administration Coalition. The parties also agreed on 28 points, including the adoption of new oil and gas laws, abolishing the Accountability and Justice Commission and transferring its files to the judiciary, moving the military and militias out of cities, and resettling those displaced from Sunni areas. The Coordination Framework commemorated the agreement by announcing, “With God’s blessings, the ship of the State Administration Coalition has sailed.” Muqtada al Sadr’s bloc had no say in the process because it has rejected all political participation since al Sadr “quit” politics and his followers resigned en masse from the Council of Representatives. A former lawmaker from al Sadr’s coalition responded to the Coalition Framework’s announcement by saying, “The ship will sink on its first voyage.” Concomitantly, it remains unclear if the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have agreed on a presidential candidate.
- Turkish warplanes struck six locations in Sulaymaniyah Governorate’s Mawat District and terrified the residents of several nearby villages on Monday. Turkish jets also hit several areas in Dohuk Governorate’s Amedi District on Sunday. Turkish airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians during Turkey’s ongoing incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan that it claims is targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
- US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander visited Iraqi Kurdistan and renewed a memorandum of understanding between the Department of Defense and the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. The memorandum was initially signed in 2016 to support the Peshmerga’s efforts to combat ISIS (Da’esh).
Syria
- The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s (AANES) internal security forces (Asayesh) killed three Da’esh terrorists who were plotting to attack the al Hol camp with two car bombs and launch a follow-on assault to free imprisoned Da’esh operatives. Meanwhile, despite the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) most recent clearing operation, Da’esh sympathizers hoisted the organization’s flag in the camp on Sunday. Separately, the SDF arrested 12 Da’esh terrorists in Deir Ez Zor and Raqqa. Lastly, a Turkish drone struck an administration office in Kobani on Monday, causing no reported casualties. The Rojava Information Center asserted the attack was the 80th Turkish drone strike on the AANES in 2022.
- Thousands of Kurdish women rallied in support of Mahsa Amini in Qamishli and the rest of the AANES. The women denounced Amini’s death and demanded her killers face justice.
Turkey
- The jailed Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtas and Selçuk Mızraklı shaved their heads, protesting the death of a Kurdish woman in Iran, Zhina Mahsa Amini. “Resisting oppression and oppression is not only the responsibility of women. My cellmate Dr. Selçuk Mızraklı and I shaved our hair today to support the struggle for equality and freedom that women are bravely leading and to state that we stand with the people who resist freedom in Iran,” read Demirtas’s statement.
- The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) called upon several international rights organizations to appeal to the Serbian government and halt the extradition of a Kurdish politician back to Turkey. The Kurdish politician Ecevit Piroğlu fled to Europe, escaping imprisonment by the government, but the Serbian government jailed him and planned to deport him. Separately, the Armenian government handed over two members of the PKK to the Turkish government last week, despite opposition by some lawmakers. The move raised anger among the European Kurdish organization and was described as a “betrayal.”
- The Turkish police arrested three soccer fans for waving the Kurdistan flag during a match in Diyarbakir (Amed). The Amed Bar Association voiced opposition to the detention and said the Iraqi constitution recognizes the Kurdistan Region flag, calling for their immediate release.