MESOP MIDEAST WATCH : Kurdistan’s Weekly Brief April 4, 2023 – A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

 Iran  4-4-23

Saqqez’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a Kurdish woman named Paria Adnani to four months in prison and 14 lashes for “propaganda.” Likewise, Sena’s Revolutionary Court sentenced a Kurdish labor activist named Khabat Shakiba to two years in prison for “membership” in a Kurdish opposition party. In Shinno, four Kurds received sentences ranging from two to four years for participating in protests. At the same time, Iranian authorities arrested several civilians, including a soccer player in Bokan. Moreover, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported two Iranian Army (Artesh) officers went missing after they refused to use force against civilians in Lorestan. Concurrently, Iranian authorities killed a Kurdish man suffering from mental illness after he visited the home of his brother, who was arrested earlier. Iranian security forces also killed a Yarasani Kurd in Kermanshah for “failing to stop” at a checkpoint. Lastly, Iranian border guards killed a Kurdish border porter (kolbar) and wounded another near Shinno.

The International Court of Justice ruled in Iran’s favor on several articles of its lawsuit against the U.S. for freezing Iranian assets. That said, the court ruled it lacked the jurisdiction to unfreeze the assets in question. Further, the Canadian government sanctioned several Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officers and other security officials for cracking down on peaceful protests.

Iraq

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) remains unable to sell its oil on the international market after the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in Baghdad’s favor regarding Iraqi Kurdistan’s independent oil exports. Granted, the Iraqi government and the KRG reached an agreement to sell 450,000 barrels per day via Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO). SOMO would receive the revenue from the sales, and the KRG would receive its share of the federal budget, including funds to pay the salaries of public employees in Iraqi Kurdistan. The U.S. called for Iraqi to resume exports via Turkey. Simultaneously, the Turkish government demanded compensation from Baghdad after it claimed five of six articles of an Iraqi lawsuit against Turkey were rejected. It remains unclear when Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil will reach the international market, but Iraq will lose a significant amount of revenue until it does.

Iraq’s Council of Representatives read a law that would make Halabja Iraqi Kurdistan’s fourth province. In 2013, the Kurdistan Parliament voted to create Halabja Province once Baghdad concurred. The law’s second and final reading is set for Wednesday, though Iranian and Turkish-backed politicians demanded the creation of Fao, Tuz Khurmatu, and Tal Afar provinces during the first reading. The bill stipulates the KRG will bear responsibility for drawing Halabja’s administrative boundaries, which will include several districts.

Syria

The Syrian National Army (SNA) deployed additional fighters to Turkish-occupied Azaz and Kafr Janneh after Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) mobilized its own forces. Tensions between the SNA and HTS remain high after anti-HTS graffiti appeared on several walls in Afrin on Wednesday. Concomitantly, the North Press Agency reported HTS began constructing a training camp for minors in Idlib Governorate on April 3. Several HTS spokespersons claimed the organization built the camps to train the “Cubs of the Caliphate,” which would be tasked with fighting Kurdish and Assad regime forces. In addition, Turkish proxies abducted four civilians, Sheikho Luqman Hamo, Muhammad Luqman Hamo, Sheikho Farhad Hamo, and Khalil Idris Jaafar, in Afrin. The four were released after a ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

The Yazidi Union of Afrin protested the crimes of the Turkish occupation after Turkish-backed militants were captured on video forcing two Yazidi men, Haydar Aref and Sheikho Aref, to convert to Islam at gunpoint in occupied Afrin’s Shara District. Concurrently, the Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham destroyed the Yazidi Malik Adi shrine in the Shara District’s Qibar village.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) Internal Security Forces (Asayish) neutralized two ISIS (Da’esh) suicide bombers in Hasakah. The terrorists disguised themselves by wearing Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) uniforms and attempted to attack an Asayish checkpoint. Meanwhile, a 55-year-old U.S. citizen, Emraan Ali, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for joining and supporting Da’esh. Concurrently, Canada will repatriate six children from the al-Hol camp this week and 13 children, six women, and four male prisoners later this month. Norway repatriated two sisters and their three children from the Roj camp last week. Finally, Sweden’s Gothenburg District Court sentenced a woman to three months in prison for joining Da’esh and desecrating corpses.

On March 30, the AANES congratulated “the Syriac, Assyrian, and Chaldean people in Syria in general, and in NE Syria in particular on the historical occasion [of Akitu].” Akitu is a celebration of the Assyrian New Year that symbolizes revival and resurrection and is held on April 1. Various peoples in the Middle East have celebrated Akitu for over 3000 years.

Turkey

The Kurdish Freedom and Democracy Alliance declared its electoral goals and leadership plans it intends to implement after Turkey’s May 14 elections. The new coalition is led by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) Green Left Alliance and includes the Revolutionary Democratic Kurdish Association (DDKD), Democratic Society Congress, Freedom (Azadi) Party, Human and Freedom Party, Kurdistan Communist Party, Kurdistan Socialist Party, and Democratic Regions Party. The statement included plans to recognize the Kurdish identity, designate Kurdish as an official language, and secure the release of Kurdish political prisoners. Separately, Freedom House released an Election Watch Report highlighting the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) election interference ahead of the May 14 election. Furthermore, several imprisoned HDP members released statements encouraging all voters to defeat Erdogan’s AKP by voting for the HDP-allied Green Left Party. On April 3, the HDP’s Youth Assembly Executive Board cited the HDP’s confidence in its coalition-building strategy by releasing a statement that read, “We will definitely win against the fascist AKP-MHP government.” On another note, Turkish police detained at least 42 people, mostly HDP supporters and members, in Urfa, Izmir, and Istanbul.

Muharrem İnce, a former Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy, announced he would run as a presidential candidate in the May 14 election after meeting with the CHP and National Alliance’s candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, on March 29. İnce and other right-leaning CHP members have disagreed with Kılıçdaroğlu and much of the CHP’s desire to achieve rapprochement with Turkey’s Kurds by releasing Kurdish political prisoners and ending the AKP’s decade-long campaign of harassment.

Full Details via www.mesop.de