Kurdistan's Weekly Brief September 12, 2023

A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

Iran

The Iranian regime continued its unrelenting crackdown on the nation’s Kurdish region during the run-up to the first anniversary of Zhina Amini’s death on September 16. However, in an unprecedented move, six Kurdish opposition parties issued a joint statement expressing their consensus on various matters, including a call for Iranian Kurds to hold a general strike on the anniversary of Amini’s death. Additionally, the joint statement requested Iranian organizations and parties join the Kurdish-led strike scheduled for September 16. That said, September 19 is the deadline the Iranian regime set for the disarmament and relocation of Iranian opposition parties in Iraqi Kurdistan as stipulated by the Baghdad-Tehran border security agreement signed six months ago. The agreement states the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi government should remove Kurdish opposition parties from areas along the Iran-Iraq border, disarm them, and move them into government-supervised camps. The Iranian regime has shown no inclination towards extending the deadline and has threatened military action if it is not met. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) condemned the regime’s threats and called for the international community to “act swiftly to safeguard the lives of Iranian Kurdish refugees” and to “closely monitor the regime’s military and security plans.”

Iraqi border guards, many of whom are Kurdish, responded to Iran’s threats of military attacks on Iraqi soil by tightening security along Iraq’s border with Iran and cracking down on Kurdish border porters (kolbars). At the same time, Iranian border guards killed a kolbar and wounded three others in separate attacks last week.

Erbil and Baghdad remain at odds over the latter’s failure to send the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) its share of the federal budget months after Iraq’s budget bill was passed. The KRG has not been able to pay public employee salaries in Iraqi Kurdistan since July because Baghdad has not sent any funds. Baghdad suggested it could provide a loan to the KRG, but the KRG deemed the proposal unacceptable. Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani said, “Zero payments from Baghdad hurts our citizens, erodes trust, and blatantly violates the Iraqi Constitution.” The ongoing pause on Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil exports remains another issue affecting the budgets of the KRG and Iraqi government, as it has cost the Iraqi government billions of dollars and pushed Iraqi Kurdistan towards economic calamity. Turkey is demanding Baghdad drop all attempts to collect the damages the International Chamber of Commerce ruled it owes Iraq and offer compensation for allowing the resumption of exports through the Ceyhan pipeline. Concomitantly, Deputy Speaker of the Council of Representatives Shakhawan Abdullah warned Baghdad to send “Kurdistan its due” by Sunday or “all necessary measures and options are open to the representatives of the Kurdish people.”

Tensions remain high in Kirkuk after Iraqi forces killed four Kurdish protesters and wounded dozens in the city. Baghdad has also sent thousands of troops backed by pro-Iranian militias to reinforce its grip on the city and the governorate. Tensions began when two radical parties in Kirkuk set up tents and protested the KDP’s return to the city. The protests shut down the main road between Erbil and Kirkuk, spurring thousands of Kurds to march towards the tents and open the roads. Iraqi security forces then fired on the protesters with live ammunition on September 2.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) claimed victory in the recent conflict between the Kurdish-led coalition of militias and rebellious tribal fighters in Deir Ez Zor Governorate after taking the last tribal-held town of Dhiban. The fighting began after the SDF arrested Abu Khawla, commander of the Deir Ez Zor Military Council. Khawla’s tribal allies and pro-Damascus fighters from west of the Euphrates responded to Khawla’s arrest by attacking the SDF and seizing towns and small swaths of territory. A key reason the SDF suppressed the rebellion quickly was it had launched “Operation Security Reinforcement,” which was ostensibly intended to destroy ISIS (Da’esh) cells in Deir Ez Zor, at the same time it arrested Abu Khawla.

SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi announced the SDF would release and grant amnesty to everyone who was detained during the fighting in Deir Ez Zor. Though it remains unclear how many tribal fighters were arrested during the anti-SDF revolt, the announced move is an important step towards reconciliation and reestablishing stability in the area. Abdi further asserted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the SDF was engaged in talks with at least one tribal leader who rebelled against the SDF. Several U.S.officials, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich and Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve Commander Major General Joel Vowell, stressed the SDF’s victory over the Arab tribes will not facilitate peace on its own, and the SDF must properly address local grievances to deescalate the conflict.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed the Syrian government was not displaying a “positive attitude” towards the ongoing Ankara-Damascus discussions of normalizing Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s regime. Erdoğan expressed disdain for Assad’s apparent passivity towards the growing Syria-Turkey-Iran-Russia consensus supporting Syria’s regional reintegration. Despite expectations Assad and Erdogan would meet soon to discuss normalization, Assad asserted he would not meet with Erdoğan until all Turkish forces were withdrawn from northern Syria. Erdogan countered Assad’s assertion by stating the Turkish military presence in Syria is necessary to counter the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and People’s Protection Units (YPG). Moreover, on Sunday, Erdogan renewed his threats against the Kurdish people of Syria, asserting that he will eliminate “terrorists” in northern Syria to facilitate the return of Arab refugees to Syria. Erdogan’s vision for this return includes the building of permanent settlements of Arabs in ancestral Kurdish land, clearly to undermine the cohesion of Kurdistan at large through the creation of an “Arab belt” on the Turkish-Syrian border.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation of Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu. Tanrıkulu, a Kurd, is under investigation for his televised criticism of the Turkish Armed Forces’ long history of human rights abuses and criminality, including the 1980 coup d’etat, destruction of Kurdish villages, and numerous assassinations. The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced it was investigating Tanrıkulu for “insulting the Turkish nation, the state of the Turkish Republic, the institutions and organs of the state” and “inciting the public to hatred and hostility or humiliation.” Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense characterized the statements as “slander,” and even CHP spokesperson Faik Öztrak condemned Tanrıkulu’s remarks. Tanrikulu currently enjoys parliamentary immunity but could be sentenced to anywhere from 12 months to three years in prison if convicted of one or more of the above-mentioned crimes.