DE PARIS KURDE - Information and liaison bulletin N 436 - Institut kurde de Paris
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KURDE
INSTITUT
DE PARIS
Information and liaison bulletin
N°436
JULY 2021
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French government and Paris City Hall
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Information and liaison bulletin
Kurdish Institute of Paris
Bulletin N° 436 July 2021
• TURKEY: ANTIKURDISH RACIST ATTACKS
INCREASE AS A RESULT OF GOVERNMENT
HATE SPEECH
• ROJAVA: THE SECURITY COUNCIL ENDORSES
THE LOCKING UP OF THE AUTONOMOUS
ADMINISTRATION (AANES), WEDGED
BETWEEN DAMASCUS AND ANKARA
• IRAN: EBRAHIM RAISI PRESIDENT, MOHSENI
EJEI HEAD OF JUDICIARY: NOTORIOUS MUR-
DERERS ARE IN POWER
• IRAQ: CHRONIC UNSECURITY IN DISPUTED
TERRITORIES PLAGUED BY ISIS AND CORRUP-
TION
• TURKEY: STATE VANDALISM IN DIYARBAKIR
• AFRIN: AL MONITOR INVESTIGATION INTO
CRIMES COMMITTED UNDER TURKISH OCCU-
PATION
TURKEY:
ANTIKURDISH RACIST ATTACKS INCREASE AS A RESULT
OF GOVERNMENT HATE SPEECH
I
n Turkey, support for tion. Since he virtually gathered still (officially) only 5%, but
Erdoğan follows the all the powers in his hands in given the differential with pro-
Turkish lira: it is plum- 2018, the dollar has risen by 86% duction costs, it can only jump
meting. According to a against the Turkish lira, producer too. Al-Monitor predicted on 8
June poll by the Turkiye prices have jumped by 90% and July that it would be 19% by the
Raporu Institute, support for the consumer prices by 53%: he end of the month, mainly due to
AKP, the presidential party, has therefore appears to be the main increases in energy prices, gas
fallen to 26%, but more impor- culprit in the situation. He is bet- and oil, a consequence of rising
tantly, nearly 60% of respondents ting on a recovery, but this is global demand. Anywhere else,
say they want snap elections. unlikely: fuelled by the fall in the the Central Bank would have
Long credited with the good per- currency, inflation, which seems reacted by raising interest rates,
formance of the Turkish econo- to be out of control, reached but the Islamist Erdoğan will not
my, the Turkish president is now 42.9% in June for production hear about it. As a result, faced
a victim of its constant deteriora- costs. For consumer prices, it is with a power vacuum, foreign
• 2 • Information and liaison bulletin n0 436 • July 2021
investors, vital to the Turkish waste to write a list before going Meeting in Diyarbakir two days
economy, are pulling out. And shopping to eliminate unneces- later, the “pro-Kurdish” party
the aggressive rhetoric of the sary purchases or... to make responded through the voice of
president, who for months has smaller portions, the enraged cit- its deputy chairman Tayip Temel
blamed the crisis on an “anti- izens responded by posting on by rejecting any negotiation with
Turkish plot from abroad”, is not social media pictures of her hus- the autocrat: “Whatever the AKP
doing anything to keep them in... band’s huge presidential palace leaders and representatives say,
(Al-Monitor). [the Kurdish people] have noth-
It is for these economic reasons ing to do with a mentality that
that Mr Erdoğan has temporarily In this context, Erdoğan’s visit to has left their will, conscience,
stopped his insults and provoca- Diyarbakir on July 9 – the first in justice and the democratic solu-
tions and returned to a more... more than two years – appears to tion of the Kurdish question
diplomatic language. Last be primarily electoral in nature. hostage to the mercy of the
month, anticipating the NATO The AKP fell in the province from MHP”.
meeting on the 14 t h , he had 35% of the vote to less than 30%
pleaded for a rapprochement last December, according to a poll Indeed, the Turkish president
with Europe and the new Biden by the Rawest company, itself appears to be increasingly pris-
administration. This month, based in Diyarbakir. After the loss oner of his alliance with the
playing the balancing act of Ankara and Istanbul in the Turkish far right. On 1 st July,
between Russia and the West, he 2019 municipal elections, the after a violent repression of the
resumed talks with Moscow... AKP has understood the impor- Istanbul Pride March the previ-
tance of the Kurdish vote. ous weekend, Turkey formally
Inside the country however, pub- Recalling his 2005 statements in withdrew from the Istanbul
lic opinion is increasingly hostile the same city, when he pro- Convention on Violence against
and critical of his pharaonic pro- claimed “The Kurdish problem is Women. Thousands of people
jects, such as Kanal Istanbul, offi- my problem”, before launching braved police tear gas to protest,
cially launched on 26 June as if the peace process, Erdogan particularly in Istanbul and
nothing had happened. Even in claimed that he stood by those Ankara. The HDP denounced
the province of Rize, his Black words. The failure of the process the decision and drew the con-
Sea stronghold, inhabitants start- in 2015, he was careful to blame clusions by leaving the parlia-
ed questioning the new port on the other side, stigmatising the mentary commission in charge of
under construction, as they can HDP and “those who claim to be investigating violence against
see no positive impact on their politicians [and who] have never women, together with the CHP
living conditions. Turkiye Raporu distanced themselves from vio- and the IYI Partisi (“Good
director Can Selcuki explains: “It lence and terrorism”, [...] “their ill Party”, a split from the MHP that
is difficult for the government to will, malicious intentions and refused the AKP alliance).
justify the cost of mega-projects secret agendas” (Al-Monitor). But
to the public when household the exclusively repressive policy Moreover, after the Constitutional
finances are suffering and people of the AKP for the past five years Court agreed at the end of June to
are worried about their liveli- and the very manner of the the opening of a trial against the
hoods and food expenses” Turkish president’s visit totally HDP on charges of “terrorism”,
(Financial Times). contradict the will of openness he the HDP is more than ever threat-
tries to represent: escorted by ened with a ban. The indictment
According to the World Bank, in thousands of police officers in presented by the prosecutor
2020, 10 million Turks were charge of stifling any expression accuses the “pro-Kurdish” party
below the poverty line. The of dissent, he then locked himself of being nothing more than a
opposition speaks of 30 million... up with the local members of the political showcase for the PKK
Moreover, the revelations of AKP to defend his policy of “terrorists” – simply repeating
exiled gangster Sedat Peker on repression against Kurdish politi- the accusation repeated over and
the corruption and sumptuous cians and to accuse, among oth- over again for years by Mr
spending of AKP politicians ers, the HDP of links with Israel. Erdoğan. In an interview with the
make their speeches inciting aus- For the record, Turkey is the first Washington Kurdish Institute
terity inaudible. When First Lady Muslim country to have recog- (WKI), Armenian-born HDP MP
Emine Erdoğan, known for her nised the Jewish state with which, Garo Paylan, recalling that the
taste for luxury (her $50,000 despite the recurrent diatribes of HDP is the only Turkish party to
Hermès bags), suggested to Turks its president, it maintains flour- defend minorities, to have unre-
during a campaign against food ishing trade relations. servedly supported the peace
n0 436 • July 2021 Information and liaison bulletin • 3 •
process with the PKK, and to In Mardin, Filiz Işık, the former More generally, a report pub-
have recognised the Armenian HDP provincial co-chair, arrested lished in January by CHP MP
genocide, said: “This case was in September 2020, was sentenced Sezgin Tanrıkulu states that
opened under the leadership of to six years and ten months in 27,493 people were victims of tor-
Erdoğan and his nationalist part- prison for “belonging to a terror- ture and ill-treatment between
ner. It is not a judicial case. It is a ist organisation”. In Istanbul, 2002, when the AKP came to
political case: they did not suc- police attacked a rally commemo- power, and 2020. Another 86 died
ceed in beating us in the political rating the Suruç attack, attributed from such ill-treatment, and the
field, so they are trying to close to ISIS, which in July 2015 had number of reported cases of tor-
our party at the judicial level”. caused the death of around 30 ture or ill-treatment in 2002, 988,
Accusing the government of young Kurds, and arrested 13 jumped to 3,534 in 2020 (SCF).
criminalising the HDP, Paylan people, mostly relatives of the The 2020 report of the Human
added: “Erdogan wants to cen- victims. Finally, Turkish authori- Rights Foundation of Turkey
tralise power. We are asking for ties arrested 30 HDP members in (TIHV), published at almost the
decentralisation, [which] they call Iğdir and two HDP officials in same time, shows that the
terrorist activism”. Calling for Şanlıurfa and Hakkari. On the increase in torture cases is partic-
international solidarity, he 14th, the HDP office in Muğla was ularly noticeable in the Kurdish
stressed: “This is not a struggle attacked. The assailant, who had regions. Despite the sanitary con-
between Turks and Kurds. It is a already carried out a similar finement, the rate of applications
struggle between an autocrat and attack against the HDP in 2018, received by the TIHV for torture
those who fight for democracy. was arrested. There have been or ill-treatment increased by 61%
[…] The world needs a democrat- countless such attacks on HDP compared to the previous year:
ic Turkey” (WKI). Although the offices, including the one on 17 572 persons, of which 507 were
European Parliament condemned June in Izmir, where young detained for political, identity
the opening of the trial against activist Deniz Poyraz was shot and/or opinion reasons. The
the HDP on 7 July by 603 votes to and killed. report clearly shows the correla-
2 and 67 abstentions, the EU will tion between human rights viola-
have to go beyond verbal con- The government bears the tions and the Kurdish issue:
demnations if it hopes to change responsibility for these aggres- although hosting only 24.6% of
Ankara’s policy in any way... sions. By setting up the Kurds as the total Turkish population, the
an “internal enemy” through his Kurdish provinces of the country
In Washington, an HDP delega- incessant hate speeches in order account for 62.6% of those sub-
tion that arrived on 28 June was to preserve at all costs a power jected to torture... The report is
informed by the State Department that he feels is wavering, particularly damning regarding
that it had been preceded from the Erdoğan, even beyond the inces- children: 20 children aged
19th to the 26th by a Turkish parlia- sant arrests of HDP members between 3 and 10 were tortured,
mentary delegation which, to the and the political trial mounted and all those tortured for ethnic
surprise of the Americans, did not against this party, is nourishing a or political reasons had Kurdish
include any HDP member. The real systemic anti-Kurdish as their mother tongue. Moreover,
“pro-Kurdish” party, which par- racism in the whole country. most of the reports concerning
ticipates in the Foreign Affairs Indeed, on the 12th, according to children refer to police interven-
Committee of the Turkish the news site Artıgerçek, the tions at night, which indicates
Parliament, had not been Diyarbakır prosecutor ’s office illegal procedures aimed at intim-
informed of this visit! The HDP found no grounds to prosecute idating citizens in their homes.
asked the committee for clarifica- police officers who had beaten Finally, the applicants report
tion. and injured a Kurdish woman numerous violations of their legal
during an anti-drug operation on guarantees during the judicial
Meanwhile, the two former co- 18 May: Kevser Demir, who had examination, and particularly
mayors of Diyarbakir, Gülten tried to prevent the police offi- that the forensic doctors who
Kışanak and Fırat Anli, dis- cers who were arresting her son “examine” them do not take their
missed in 2019 and already from beating him, had herself complaints into account in their
imprisoned, were charged with several teeth and her arm bro- examination, thus reinforcing the
“creating a co-chairing system in ken; her daughter was also impunity of the police.
the provincial council”, a means injured. The Diyarbakir Bar
adopted by the HDP to allow for Association, which had after- In addition, racist attacks on
the equal participation of wards filed a complaint, has Kurds are increasing. On the 19th
women: so this would be illegal? indicated its intention to appeal. in Afyon, Kurdish agricultural
• 4 • Information and liaison bulletin n0 436 • July 2021
workers were violently attacked discriminate. In Bağlum Minister Süleyman Soylu
by fascists and called “terrorists” (Keçiören, Ankara), Kurds blamed years of hostility
simply for speaking Kurdish. whose houses and farms had between two families: “This
Seven Kurds, including two been destroyed because they did attack has no connection with
women, were injured. According not take the necessary steps with the Turkish-Kurdish issue”, he
to a witness, the attack took the land registry, reported that said, adding that denouncing the
place after a hairdresser left two only property belonging to killings as a racist crime was a
young Kurds waiting at the door Kurds had been demolished... “provocation” against the coun-
of his salon for two hours, 150 families, some of whom have try’s unity...
putting everyone else ahead of been settled for more than 20
them... On the 20 th in Ankara, years, are thus threatened. One In such a bloody context, one
another attack hit a family sacri- of the victims of the destruction hardly dares to recall two events
ficing an animal for the Muslim testified that during a visit by the of the month that give hope that
festival commemorating the sac- First Lady to the Keçiören animal resistance can still carry weight.
rifice of Abraham. At least 150 shelter on 28 July, several On 1 s t July, the Turkish
people took part in the attack, Kurdish women asked her to Constitutional Court ruled in
which left four people with gun- intervene. Emine Erdoğan favour of imprisoned HDP MP
shot wounds, two of whom had reportedly replied: “Go to the Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, find-
to be hospitalised in a serious mountains”, which in Turkey is ing in a ruling that his right to
condition. The family of the synonymous with: “Join the carry out political activities and
injured, who were waiting out- PKK”... his personal freedoms had been
side the hospital, were ordered “violated”. The annulment of his
to disperse and then attacked Unfortunately, as the HDP had conviction forced the Kocaeli
with tear gas and batons, this feared, the worst happened on court to release him on the 6th,
time by the police. But it was in the evening of the 30th in Meram and allowed him to regain his
Konya, on the same day, that the (Konya). A group of armed indi- status as a member of parliament
most frightening attack took viduals attacked a Kurdish fami- on the 16th, after the official read-
place. A crowd of 60 people shot ly from Kars, who had been liv- ing of the decision in parliament
at a car carrying a Kurdish fami- ing in the Bahçeşehir district for (AFP). Was this a decision
ly originally from Diyarbakir, 24 years. Each member of the teleguided by the government to
but settled in the Meram district family was shot in the head; counter the EU accusations? On
of Konya for twenty years. seven people were killed, includ- the other hand, on the 15 th , it
Hakim Dal, 43, was killed. His ing three women, and then the seems that the Turkish President
brother Hamdi told the house was set on fire. Last May, had to back down: he dismissed
Mezopotamya agency: “They did the Dedeoğlu family had already the rector of the Bosphorus
not want us because we are been attacked by a mob armed (Bogazici) University in Istanbul,
Kurds. They told us: ‘‘You will with knives, stones and sticks, Melih Bulu, he had himself
sell this place and leave” shouting “We don’t want Kurds appointed by decree six months
(Rûdaw). On the 23 rd , the HDP living here”. Some members of earlier. The latter had become
listed in a statement the recent the family were seriously increasingly authoritarian: he
attacks and called on the govern- injured, but the assailants, after had banned protesting students
ment to react: “If the government being arrested, were later from the campus with the help of
does not put an end to its crimi- released. The victims’ lawyer, facial recognition cameras and
nalising smear campaigns and Abdurrahman Karabulut, said had withdrawn about a hundred
incessant hate speech against the that the release of the perpetra- scholarships. In vain: the CHP
HDP and the Kurds in general, tors of this first attack had given mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem
and if it does not succeed in them a sense of impunity. Imamoğlu, substituted munici-
effectively prosecuting the per- Commenting on the killings, he pal scholarships (Le Monde). As
petrators of these acts, many said on Arti-TV: “This is an the case turned to the advantage
more bloody attacks are likely to entirely racist attack. [...] The jus- of the opposition, the Turkish
occur”. tice system and the authorities president probably chose to get
have their share of responsibility rid of a character who had
But the authorities continue to for what happened”. But Interior become an embarrassment...
n0 436 • July 2021 Information and liaison bulletin • 5 •
ROJAVA:
THE SECURITY COUNCIL ENDORSES THE LOCKING UP
OF THE AUTONOMOUS ADMINISTRATION (AANES),
WEDGED BETWEEN DAMASCUS AND ANKARA
T
he region controlled by condemned this “compromise” On the 20th, it was learned that a
the Autonomous vote (AFP), the regime obviously 35-year-old Kurd from Afrin,
Administration of North- adopted the opposite position, Azad Ebdulqadir Soran, kid-
East Syria (AANES), welcoming this decision as a napped two months earlier in
with a Kurdish majority, reaffirmation of Syria’s unity: Aleppo at a regime checkpoint
is condemned to remain in isola- controlling all humanitarian aid between the Sheikh Maqsoud
tion. It is true that on 9 July the arriving in the country provides and Ashrafiyeh districts, had
UN Security Council unani- Damascus with a means of been tortured to death in prison.
mously extended the opening of putting pressure on the territo- Those responsible for his abduc-
the Bab Al-Hawa crossing point ries that escape its control. tion are said to belong to the
on the Turkish border for six Earlier this month, Russian “Baqir Group”, supported by
months. This will allow humani- Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Tehran... (Kurdistan-24) Finally,
tarian aid to be delivered to Idlib again accused the United States according to the SOHR (Syrian
province and northwestern of encouraging the Kurds to Observatory for Human Rights),
Syria, where four million civil- “separatism”, a position taken we learned on the 31 st of the
ians live, and everyone wel- up at the end of the month by his death of a man and four children
comed a “victory” that had made Syrian counterpart, who accused from Afrin due to lack of medical
it possible to “avoid a humani- the AANES of “separatist pro- care: the “Fourth Division” of the
tarian catastrophe”. But in 2019, jects” aimed at “weakening Syrian army refused to allow
there were five cross-border Syria”. In the same statement, their ambulances passage to
crossing points, and NGOs find Lavrov said he was ready to Aleppo hospitals for care.
Bab Al-Hawa largely insuffi- mediate between AANES and Following these deaths, hun-
cient. The French ambassador to Damascus, a proposal that the dreds of Afrin residents held a
the UN, Nicolas de Rivière, one Kurds had implicitly accepted, vigil in front of the Russian post
of the only members of the speaking of a “positive step in the village of al-Wahsheyah to
Council to speak clearly about it, towards a solution”. However, demand that the military obtain
was clear: “The mechanism we the talks with Damascus, which from their Syrian counterparts
have just renewed is and will be started in January, have been free passage for patients to the
insufficient to meet humanitari- fruitless so far due to the intran- city and, in the other direction,
an needs. We regret that the Bab sigence of the regime. In June, for humanitarian aid to the vil-
Al-Salamah and Al-Yaroubiya tensions increased again lages...
crossings [abolished in 2020 between the pro-regime militias
under pressure from Moscow] and the Asayish (Kurdish securi- By mentioning a siege from “all
will not be reopened, while, ty), leading to cross-arrests, espe- sides”, the AANES was also
since last year, humanitarian cially in Qamishli, followed by a referring to the continuing
needs have increased by more relative easing of tension with intense Turkish military harass-
than 20% in the north-west and the release of detainees by both ment. The Tall Tamr region was
38% in the north-east” (Le parties. At the beginning of July, targeted throughout the month,
Monde). The Autonomous the soldiers of the regime’s cross- as well as Manbij, with about 15
Administration has obviously ing points, which control the rockets fired from the Turkish
denounced in a statement this “Security Circle” in the city (the base of Tukhar on villages west
decision which isolates Rojava: area around the barracks and the of the town on 1st July, accompa-
“We are not opposed to the bazaar), started to block the pas- nied by clashes using small arms
delivery of aid to the Syrian peo- sage of civilians. And on the 3rd, between pro-Turkish mercenar-
ple [...] but we are opposed to Syrian soldiers literally stormed ies and fighters from the town’s
[this policy of] double standards. the homes of several AANES military council. In response, the
[…] This decision accentuates the employees living in Zanoud, a latter carried out an infiltration
humanitarian tragedy by pro- Damascus-controlled village operation on the 3rd which left
longing the siege that we are suf- near Qamishli, threatening them one mercenary dead and five
fering on all sides”. with arrest if they did not aban- injured. Two women seriously
While Amnesty International also don their work... injured by rockets had to be hos-
• 6 • Information and liaison bulletin n0 436 • July 2021
pitalised (SOHR). More Turkish reports, the attack took place in tion of the region by Turkey, and
fire killed a woman and a child the region of al-Bab, a Turkish- added some recent examples:
in Tall Rifaat on the 4th, where a controlled town 30 kilometres “We have documented the rape
Turkish drone struck a position north-east of Aleppo. The very of 70 women [...]. In the last 6
of the Syrian Democratic Forces next day, apparently in retalia- months alone, 25 women have
(SDF) the next day. Manbij was tion, Turkish forces and their been abducted, including chil-
targeted again on the 9th, without mercenaries fired dozens of rock- dren [...]”. A two-year-old girl
casualties, as well as several vil- ets from their areas of control, was also murdered... Suzan
lages in Aleppo province (WKI). with no response from the SDF Mistefa, from the Kurdish
On the 11 t h , another Turkish or regime forces. On the morning women’s organisation Kongra
drone hit a house near Tall of the 30th, Turkish rockets killed Star, pointed out that for the past
Rifaat. On the 13th, a SDF infiltra- two fighters of the SDF-affiliated three years the Turkish state has
tion operation against pro- “al-Bab Military Council”, systematically targeted women
Turkish mercenaries near Raqqa installed near this town, which it and children: “Many girls are
left one dead and four injured aims to recapture. Another had forced into marriage. Some
among them (SOHR). already been killed on the 23rd. women are abducted and taken
Also on the 27 th , Turkish fire to Turkey. The situation of
On the 17th, SOHR spoke of an resumed in Sharra (Afrin), with- women in prison is appalling”.
“alarming military escalation” in out causing any casualties, and The fate of 1,200 women who
Manbij, with casualties on both the SDF retaliated by shelling the have disappeared since the occu-
sides since the beginning of the village of al-Maqri near al-Bab pation of Afrin is still unknown.
month: “On many occasions, the and the western outskirts of Mistefa denounced the silence of
escalation is triggered by the Azaz (SOHR). Finally, on the the international community in
Turks and [mercenary] factions 30 th , a Turkish drone targeted the face of these crimes against
firing numerous artillery shells two civilian vehicles south of humanity. Also according to the
and rockets, in addition to daily Kobanê, without causing any Afrin Human Rights
clashes between the two sides casualties. Organisation, at least 35 Kurds
with light, medium and heavy were killed in 2021 in Afrin,
weapons”. At the same time, In the Turkish-occupied country- where at least 100 settlements
Turkish attacks also targeted the side of Afrin, infighting between have been created for non-Kurds
Tall Rifaat area, resulting in five two mercenary factions contin- (WKI). Finally, the SDF
civilian casualties, including a ued on 2 nd July. On 5 July, the denounced the abduction of at
child, according to the SDF. In Sultan Sulayman Shah faction least 80 of its members, who
addition, for the past five released for a ransom of US$ were taken to Turkey for impris-
months, Turkey has been pursu- 3,000 a 50-year-old man arrested onment, in violation of interna-
ing its tactic of make Rojava on 27 June for “contacts with tional law and the Geneva
thirsty by limiting the flow of the AANES”. On 6 June, members of Convention. Their spokesperson,
Euphrates, which causes water Liwaa al-Waqqas set fire to Kino Gabriel, called on the 18th
and electricity shortages and orchards and olive trees near for the international community
puts agriculture at risk (WKI). Jendires to cut down and sell the and the UN Security Council to
On the 20 th , the strategic M4 wood (SOHR). On the 9 th , the react.
highway was targeted by heavy RojInfo website reported on a
artillery fire north of Raqqa. On damning report by the Afrin Without responding to the accu-
the 27th, a precarious calm pre- Human Rights Organisation sations of crimes against human-
vailed in the Tall Tamr country- showing that women are the first ity against it, Turkey sought to
side, but bombing resumed until victims of the occupier ’s war counterattack by referring a sim-
the end of the month, this time crimes: according to this NGO, in ilar accusation to the People’s
prompting a response from the the last 18 months pro-Turkish Protection Units (YPG), the
SDF. mercenaries have murdered at Kurdish militia of the PYD
least 83 women and abducted (People’s Unity Party), the main
On the 25th, the Turkish Ministry another 200... In an interview component of the SDF. On the
of Defence announced without with the Kurdish news agency evening of the 14th, the Turkish
specifying the location that an Hawar News (ANHA), a member Ministry of Defence announced
attack on a military vehicle had of the organisation, Naile the discovery of a “mass grave”
left two Turkish soldiers dead Mehmud, recalls that hundreds in the Afrin region containing 35
and two wounded (L’Orient-Le of thousands of crimes have been bodies. The next day, the gover-
jour). According to media documented since the occupa- nor of the Turkish province of
n0 436 • July 2021 Information and liaison bulletin • 7 •
Hatay, Rahmi Dogan, spoke of 61 of three other jihadists. In the “Eight people of Syrian and Iraqi
bodies and, without providing middle of the month, the SDF nationality were shot in the
evidence, said that they were dismantled a cell that was organ- head”. Despite repeated exhorta-
civilians executed by the YPG a ising the escape of detainees tions from the Kurds, most coun-
few days before the start of the from the Al-Hol camp to Turkey. tries – especially European ones
Turkish offensive in Afrin in At the end of the month, the SDF – refuse to repatriate their citi-
2018. The authorities in Afrin, announced the death of two zens. Some, including France,
exiled since the Turkish invasion jihadists in a US-supported raid have only done so for a limited
and occupation, rejected the in Hassaké and the arrest of number of minors, including
accusations, telling local journal- more ISIS members on the out- orphans (AFP).
ists, including AFP, that it was skirts of that city. However, in
not a mass grave but an informal Al-Basire, jihadists killed two The AANES authorities are try-
cemetery created by the SDF just women and wounded a man and ing to decrease the pressure in
before the Turkish invasion. The two children in an attack on their the camps in several ways. On
spokesman for the Afrin Human home (WKI). Despite several SDF the 2nd, they transferred about 30
Rights Organisation, Ibrahim successes against ISIS, the organ- teenagers from Al-Hol to a reha-
Shaykho, explained that the isation remains a real threat, par- bilitation centre for children of
cemetery contained remains of ticularly in Deir Ezzor province, jihadists. Abdelkarim Omar,
fighters and civilians killed dur- partly due to the inability of the head of foreign affairs at
ing the Turkish operation and regime and its Russian allies to AANES, who deplores the fact
who could not be transported contain it in the desert south of that the international community
out of Afrin because of the siege Badiya, where dozens of soldiers is not taking its responsibilities,
imposed by the attackers (AFP). and militiamen have been killed insisted on the importance of cre-
Following this exchange, the in the past three months (WKI). ating such centres: “The place of
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi Notably, on the 28th, the SOHR children is neither in prison nor
reiterated his call to the interna- reported a major jihadist attack in camps”, he told AFP. A first
tional community to “investigate in the Damascus-held part of this centre, set up a few years ago
the crimes committed by Turkey province, which provoked vio- and currently accommodating
and the militias in Afrin and to lent clashes with heavy weapons about 120 children, is giving
put an end to crimes against and forced the Russian air force good results, and others are
humanity” (WKI). to intervene to repel the attack- being prepared, he said, asking
ers. The fighting left seven peo- for international help to set up
On the 27 t h , the SOHR again ple dead on the regime side and about 15 of them: “At least help
reported abuses committed at at least five from ISIS. us get these children out of this
the border against Syrians trying radical environment, because
to flee the war by Turkish gen- Moreover, the situation remains keeping them in this atmosphere
darmes (jandarma). The latter difficult in the camps where for- will lead to the emergence of a
regularly target them with gun- mer jihadist fighters and their new generation of terrorists”, he
fire or torture them. This time, relatives are held. The camp of warned. Another AANES action
about 20 Turkish soldiers succes- Al-Hol, in particular, with 62,000 is the repatriation of children to
sively beat up two young Syrians residents, 93% of whom are their country of origin. On the
who tried to enter Turkey near women and children, remains, 3rd , Anna Kuznetsova, head of
Derbassiyah (Hassaké) and stole despite several security opera- the Russian Presidential
their money and mobile phone tions, what the SOHR describes Commission on the Rights of the
before sending them back to as a “mini-Islamic state”, as ISIS Child, led a Russian delegation
Syria. Earlier this month, in the killers are still very active there. to repatriate 20 children of
same place, these jandarma had On the 6th, the SDF published its Russian nationality detained in
already exchanged fire with monthly report on the situation. the Roj camp (AFP). Kurdish offi-
Kurdish Asayish. It states: “ISIS terrorist cells con- cials later announced that they
tinue to operate in Al-Hol camp had returned over 250 children
Meanwhile, the resurgence of the with new killings against resi- to the Russian government. In
ISIS jihadist organisation contin- dents who deviate from the other cases, AANES has negoti-
ues. Earlier this month, the SDF organisation’s extremist ideas”. ated with tribal leaders to return
announced the capture of an The camp has seen dozens of detainees from their camps to
explosives expert in Shaddadi killings, escapes and attacks on their homes. In mid-July, 82 fam-
(Hassaké), and the following guards and aid workers in recent ilies were able to leave Al-Hol
week, in the same location, that months, and in June alone, and return to Raqqa (WKI).
• 8 • Information and liaison bulletin n0 436 • July 2021
However, the Asayish had to woman, were shot dead in the anti-ISIS coalition base near the
launch a new security operation last few hours. There have been al-Omar oil field, not far from the
in Al-Hol on the morning of the 22 killings since the end of the Iraqi border. According to the
30th, during which they arrested first phase of the security cam- SOHR, pro-Iranian militias prob-
15 civilians accused of having paign (SOHR). ably launched the drones from a
links with ISIS, some of whom At the same time, it seems that rural area outside the town of al-
even accused of having partici- the Iranian-American conflict Mayadin, southwest of al-Omar.
pated in assassinations. The has spilled over into Rojava from These attacks were concomitant
killings continued in parallel neighbouring Iraq. On the 7 th , to the one carried out on the
with the Asayish operation, as the SDF announced that it had American base of Ain al-Assad,
three Iraqi refugees, including a foiled a drone attack targeting an in Iraq (AFP).
IRAN:
EBRAHIM RAISI PRESIDENT, MOHSENI EJEI HEAD OF JUDICIARY:
NOTORIOUS MURDERERS ARE IN POWER
W
hen the new Iranian deputy chief of the judiciary and consequences. One example
president, the ultra-con- former intelligence minister, has among hundreds filmed with
servative Ebrahim a long history of illegal actions mobile phones: a woman, face
Raissi, was head of the and serious human rights viola- uncovered, taking the audience as
judiciary, he distin- tions. He notably organised the witness, yells at a mullah in a
guished himself by his ruthless obtaining of false televised con- Tehran park: “The children of those
repression of the November 2019 fessions through torture, and is who chant ‘Death to America’ are
demonstrators and the impunity also behind the “serial murders” themselves living in the United
he granted to the repressive of intellectuals in the 1990s, some States... with the money of the people
forces guilty of murdering hun- of whom were found strangled [...]. Raisi himself was the head of jus-
dreds of protesters. Already in in vacant lots. Since 2010, he has tice. What thieves did he punish, while
1988, as a member of Tehran sin- been subject to sanctions by the he is now talking about waging a war
ister “Death Commission”, he United States and the European against corruption? You are all the
had participated in thousands of Union. same shit!”
extrajudicial executions of politi-
cal prisoners. Reporters Without RSF refers to Iran’s ruling “Duo However, the government, now
Borders (RSF) also recalls that in of Death”, and indeed, Raissi fully controlled by the conserva-
2020 he had a prisoner hanged and Ejei have worked together tives, is initiating worrying legal
simply for creating a Telegram before. In 2009, after numerous developments. In the last days of
channel... The prospect of him reports of torture and sexual Ebrahim Raisi’s tenure as head of
becoming President was already assault of protesters arrested the judiciary, a new regulation of
a message of terror to the whole after Ahmadinejad’s fraudulent the legal profession was approved.
of Iranian civil society. The re-election, they co-led a com- The licence to practice, which was
Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali mission of inquiry. Together, previously held by the bar associa-
Khamenei, has now added to the denying the validity of clear evi- tion, was transferred to the judicia-
threat by appointing Gholam- dence, they ensured the impuni- ry. The judiciary can now refuse to
Hossein Mohseni Ejei, another ty of the perpetrators. allow anyone to practise the pro-
cleric also known for his human fession and can also revoke an
rights abuses, to succeed Raisi as This ultra-repressive orientation existing licence. For CHRI, which
head of the judiciary. “Ejei’s will further widen the divide is calling for international reac-
appointment is a clear threat to between Iranians and the mullahs’ tions, “This new regulation [...] emp-
Iranian civil society, given the regime. Not only did the boycott ties the right to due process and a fair
considerable role he has played of the elections lead to an unprece- trial of its meaning”.
in suppressing popular protests dented level of abstention: 74% in
and fabricating cases against Tehran (51.8% nationally), and In addition, at the end of the
human rights defenders and four million invalid or blank votes, month, the Parliament referred to
political activists”, said Hadi 13% of the vote, but now, as Le an internal parliamentary commit-
Ghaemi, director of the Center Monde points out, the anger of the tee a controversial draft law aimed
for Human Rights in Iran citizens is such that it is expressed at granting control of the Internet
(CHRI). Mohseni Ejei, a former without any apparent fear of the to security agencies in case of seri-n0 436 • July 2021 Information and liaison bulletin • 9 •
ous events, such as demonstra- “I am thirsty!”. “We kept shouting, a report that since the 15th, security
tions. Article 85 of the Constitution ‘‘We want water, just water, we forces had “killed at least eight
allows for the adoption of a text in have no water” a street vendor protesters [...] in seven different
an internal committee, a way of said from Ahvaz in a telephone cities” and that “dozens of people,
bypassing the plenary debate... interview with The New York including children, [had] been
Once approved by the Council of Times. “They responded to us with injured, including by birdshot”, [of
Guardians of the Constitution, the violence and bullets”. Several whom] “several are hospitalised in
text becomes law for a trial period videos show members of the secu- critical condition”, while many
(CHRI). rity forces firing at fleeing injured protesters avoid hospital
protesters. But the shooting, which treatment for fear of arrest, making
This proposal does not come about killed at least three young men, far the figures a likely underestimate.
by chance; it follows the closure of from extinguishing the movement,
the Internet ordered after protests caused it to spread to other In parallel to these events, the rou-
against water shortages in provinces: East Azerbaijan, tine repression and killings of
Khuzestan province began on 15 Lorestan, Isfahan, North Kurdish cross-border carriers, the
July. The demonstrations quickly Khorassan and Tehran (WKI), and kolbars, by border guards contin-
became anti-regime protests and provoked a change in slogans. In ued throughout Iranian Kurdistan.
began to spread outside Izeh, Khuzestan, the videos show Earlier this month, two were shot
Khuzestan, and they were ruth- cries of “Death to Khamenei” and in Hawraman, one of whom died,
lessly repressed. “We don’t want an Islamic three were injured on the Iraqi bor-
Republic”. In Tehran and der and one was killed in a fall
In Khuzestan, it all started with a Mashhad, crowds demonstrated in while fleeing (WKI). Another
prolonged drought, partly due to solidarity with Khuzestan. In a group was attacked by border
climate change, coupled with Tehran metro station, passengers guards near Baneh. According to
years of mismanagement of natu- waiting for trains chanted “Death the latest report by the Kurdistan
ral resources and a lack of interest to the Islamic Republic”. In Human Rights Network (KHRN), at
by the state. The many dams Kermanshah, in Iran’s Kurdistan least 21 kolbars were “killed or
diverting water from the province region, dozens of Kurds protested wounded” in the border areas in
to the centre of the country, where against local power cuts while June, including at least 10 shot by
many of the leaders come from, affirming their solidarity with the Iranian, Turkish or Iraqi border
have added to the anger of the demonstrators in Khuzestan. forces (Rûdaw). The following
people. Even if the demonstrators According to Hengaw, about twen- week, two porters were killed near
have been careful to distance ty were arrested. The regime has in Ouroumieh and Baneh respective-
themselves from any separatism in fact launched arrests throughout ly, three injured in Baneh and one
order to avoid even harsher the country in an attempt to stem in Marivan. The human rights
repression, this province, which the spread of the protests. organisation KMMK also reported
borders Iraq and has an Arabic- that in Nowsud, dozens of arrest-
speaking majority, is still marked On the 20 t h , the Human Rights ed kolbars were tortured and their
by economic discrimination: while News Activist Agency (HRANA) goods confiscated. Four more
Khuzestan is home to 80% of Iran’s reported that it had identified at porters were subsequently injured
oil reserves and 60% of its gas least 18 arrested activists. On the in Nowsud and Piranshahr (WKI).
reserves, it has a very high level of 22nd, the human rights organisa- In Baneh, after an attack on the 26th
poverty and unemployment, up to tion Human Rights Watch (HRW) that killed one kolbar and injured
50% in some places, compared denounced the “excessive use of 12 others, hundreds of people
with 9.6% nationally... force” against the protesters. On gathered in protest in front of the
the 23 rd , the Centre for Human district administration building.
In the words of the Centre for Rights in Iran (CHRI) expressed On the 30th, Iraq’s Kurdish channel
Cooperation of Iranian Kurdistan concern about a repeat of the 2019 Rûdaw reported that one of the
Parties (CCIKP), which issued a massacres and denounced in a injured kolbars was at risk of losing
statement in support of the statement “the total disregard for a leg and recalled that in its latest
protests, the government is resort- law, life and all international stan- report on the human rights situa-
ing to its “usual policy [...] against dards of maintaining order” tion in Iran, the UN had expressed
the people’s protests and legiti- demonstrated by the Iranian concern about the “excessive use
mate demands”, deploying its authorities, as well as “state- of force” against kolbars:
repressive forces to fire live ammu- imposed internet outages to cover “According to several reports,
nition. Videos shared on social net- up its violence”. On the same day, about 70,000 Iranians, mainly from
works show large crowds shouting Amnesty International estimated in the Kurdish minority, depend on• 10 • Information and liaison bulletin n0 436 • July 2021
their kolbar status for their liveli- thing as manslaughter, and all winter of 2017-2018. In October
hoods, including women, many of murders attract the death penalty, 2020, the opponent Habib Chaab, a
them female heads of household”. regardless of the circumstances... refugee in Sweden, disappeared
According to the UN, about 60 kol- Another Kurdish prisoner, during a trip to Turkey (Le Monde).
bars, including children, were Hossein Kheiri, 32, from Lorestan,
killed and over 170 injured in 2020. is also on death row after being Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic
convicted in Tehran of moharebeh continues to explode in Iran, now
In addition, arrests of Kurdish (“war against God”): during anti- facing a fifth wave and the rapid
activists and convictions contin- regime protests in November 2019, spread of the Delta variant. On 1st
ued throughout the month. he destroyed private sector prop- July, the People’s Mojahedin
According to KMMK, on the 2nd, erty. According to Hengaw, Iran Organization of Iran (PMOI),
the authorities arrested 15 Kurds has executed 119 prisoners, includ- which compiles its own figures on
in Kermanshah on suspicion of ing 21 Kurds, since the beginning the epidemic from regional data,
links with Sunni groups. While of the year (Zhyan). estimated the number of deaths
Iran has harboured al-Qaeda lead- from the coronavirus in 547 Iranian
ers and supported the Iraqi cities at over 320,800; on the 16th,
Kurdish Islamist organisation On the 32 nd anniversary of the the calculated figure was 330,500
Ansar al-Islam, it has recently inten- assassination of Iranian Kurdish deaths, and on the 30th over 342,100
sified its crackdown on Sunni leader Abdul Rahman (CNRI), giving an estimated death
Islamist organisations. Earlier this Ghassemlou in Vienna by Tehran toll of 21,300... in a single month.
month, several activists from agents on 13 July 1989, the These figures are nearly four times
Iranian Kurdistan went on hunger Cooperation Centre of the higher than the official figures as
strike to protest the continued Kurdistan Parties of Iran called on reported by RFI at the beginning of
detention of Kurdish activist the international community to re- the month, nearly 85,000 dead and
Kharollah Haqjoian, a follower of launch the investigation into the 3,240,000 people infected. But by
the Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq) faith. Other attack. The regime has never since the admission of many regime offi-
activists were also arrested in abandoned its operations abroad cials, these figures are grossly
Sanandaj and Piranshahr, and on to assassinate members of the underestimated. With only 6 mil-
the 31 s t , the Oshnavieh opposition. For instance, a foiled lion people vaccinated out of 81,
Revolutionary Court sentenced attempt in Brussels in July 2018 and vaccination very slow, the
Kurdish activist Salah Barhamian resulted in several arrests, includ- country has little means of control,
to two years in prison on charges ing that of a serving Iranian diplo- and has had to take new measures.
related to his ethnicity (WKI). mat. Ironically, just a few days On the 4th, the closure of depart-
later, the United States issued ment stores and bazaars was decid-
Officers of the Etelaat (Intelligence wanted notices against four ed. On the 17th, in view of the explo-
Service) tortured to death a Kurd Iranian agents accused of planning sion of cases and the predominance
named Ahmed Rahmanian after the kidnapping in New York of of the Delta variant, administra-
his arrest on 13 July. They also tor- Iranian-American journalist Masih tions, banks and non-essential busi-
tured two sisters of a Kurdish Alinejad. She had been a target nesses were closed for six days in
activist exiled in Norway, Sanar since 2014, when she launched a the neighbouring provinces of
Arsazeh, in order to force him to campaign against compulsory Tehran and Alborz (almost a fifth of
return and face prosecution veiling in Iran. The plan appears to the population), which were isolat-
(Hengaw). In addition, in two days, have been to transport her by fast ed from the rest of the country. After
five Kurdish prisoners were exe- boat to Venezuela or lure her to having refused them for a long time,
cuted in the central prison of Turkey or Iraq, from where she Iran was counting on the arrival of
Ouroumieh (Hengaw). On the 4th, could have been abducted and more than six million foreign vac-
two prisoners were executed on transferred to Iran. This was the cines to vaccinate the over-sixties
drug-related charges (KMMK). The method used in 2019 against the (RFI). On the 26th, the official daily
next day, three other prisoners dissident refugee in France, number of contaminations passed
were hanged for premeditated Rouhollah Zam: abducted in Iraq the 30,000 mark for the first time,
murder, including two brothers, and then transferred to Iran, he with 31,814 new cases, for a total
one of whom suffered serious was sentenced to death and exe- number exceeding 3.7 million (Le
spinal injuries as a result of torture cuted at the end of 2020 for his role Figaro). The health management of
in prison. In Iran, there is no such in the anti-regime protests of the the regime is increasingly criticised.n0 436 • July 2021 Information and liaison bulletin • 11 •
IRAQ:
CONTINUING INSECURITY IN THE DISPUTED TERRITORIES,
PLAGUED BY ISIS AND CORRUPTION
I
n the late evening of 6 Colorado: there is therefore no On 16 September, a Kurdish family
July, Erbil International word of leaving Iraq or Kurdistan. travelling by car was killed by gun-
Airport was again target- On the Iraqi side, faced with the fire near a fake checkpoint in Pirde
ed by a drone attack. resurgence of ISIS, Prime Minister district and two other passengers
Fortunately, there were Al-Kadhimi is not ready to do with- were injured. On the 24th, three fed-
no injuries or material damage, and out American support. On 26 July, eral policemen were killed in an
the fire brigade put out the fire. The he led to Washington an Iraqi dele- attack on their checkpoint, and the
target was the American military gation that came in the framework next day jihadists fired a Katyusha
present in the framework of the of the strategic dialogue between rocket into Riyadh without causing
anti-ISIS coalition, which had the two countries, in which the casualties, the first such attack in
already been targeted in Erbil on Kurdish Minister of Foreign the region since the fall of the
several occasions, as in the drone Affairs, Fouad Hussein, and several “Caliphate”. From Tuz Khurmatu
attack of 27 June. The day before, KRG representatives participated. (Kirkuk) to Khanaqin on the
another drone had been shot down At the same time, the Kurdish Iranian border, the jihadist danger
in Baghdad near the American Peshmerga received new logistical has become permanent. At Tuz
embassy, while three rockets had equipment from the coalition, Khurmatu airbase, two federal
just hit the American air base of while the Peshmerga Ministry policemen were killed and five
Ain-al-Assad, in the desertic west announced the forthcoming forma- injured on the 3 rd , and another
of Anbar province. In total, 48 tion of two joint brigades with the attack on a military checkpoint left
attacks since January. These latest Iraqi army to restore security in the one dead and two injured. In
attacks were certainly in response “disputed territories”. Negotiations Khanaqin, five civilians attempting
to the American strikes launched are continuing to arm and finance to free farmers captured by
on 28 June on the Syrian border these brigades (WKI). jihadists were killed near Jalawla.
against the pro-Iranian militias of Two of the farmers were able to
the Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular It is to be hoped that this announce- flee. On 29 September, one Iraqi sol-
Mobilisation Units), which had ment will be implemented quickly, dier was killed and two others
killed a dozen fighters (AFP). The as ISIS continues to reorganise itself injured near Nafitkhana.
next day, Ain-al-Assad was hit in these territories, taking advan-
again, this time by 14 rockets that tage of the security vacuum that The Iraqi and Kurdish security
caused three light injuries (Le still prevails there to carry out forces have not been idle. They
Figaro). The message addressed to attack after attack. The Washington announced the discovery of three
the United States is also addressed Kurdish Institute (WKI) estimated on jihadist hideouts between Hawija
to the Kurdistan Regional the 6th that the jihadists had killed and Daquq, and in Erbil, the cap-
Government (KRG), their Iranian at least 25 Iraqi security personnel ture of a jihadist who was planning
neighbour indirectly signifying during the last two weeks of June, to attack a prison to free the
them that their links with the mainly in Kirkuk province. They detained jihadists. The following
Americans can be a source of prob- have also kidnapped or killed week, Erbil security released a
lems... Along with Ain Al-Assad, many civilians. video of captured jihadists confess-
Erbil airport is one of the two main ing to planning suicide attacks dur-
American support points for the In a new strategy clearly aimed at ing Eid. According to the Kurdistan
coalition in Iraq, and therefore a provoking the anger of citizens Security Council, attacks were also
major potential target, while exist- against the authorities, ISIS has planned on places frequented by
ing defence systems are bad at since the beginning of July system- foreigners. In Kirkuk, security offi-
intercepting these newcomers that atically attacked energy production cials announced the arrest of sever-
are the drones packed with explo- or transport installations: dozens of al jihadists in the city, including a
sives. sites, energy lines, natural gas pro- suicide bomber. On the 18th, four
duction and power stations have caches containing drones and small
The next day, the Pentagon been hit by homemade bombs or arms were discovered near Riyadh.
announced a rotation of troops that rockets, causing serious electricity At the end of the month, the KRG
will see the soldiers of the shortages. In addition to the announced the arrest in a camp for
Louisiana National Guard leave destruction of infrastructure, the displaced persons of one of the
Erbil, replaced by some 1,800 sol- jihadists continued their attacks jihadists responsible for the 19 July
diers of the Stryker Brigade, from against villages and security forces. attack in Baghdad, which killed at• 12 • Information and liaison bulletin n0 436 • July 2021
least 35 civilians. In the last week of cess stalled due to corruption in the offices, and more broadly the oil
the month, another cache was dis- hiring process... In Khanaqin, peo- sector, are hotbeds of corruption in
covered near Dawda, between Kifri ple also protested against electricity Iraq. In Makhmur, the Commission
and Tuz Khourmatou. But these cuts on 1st July. The region is facing issued an arrest warrant against the
successes are not enough to stop a permanent water shortage due to town’s silo manager for improperly
the resurgence of ISIS... the lack of rain but also to Iran’s accounting for poor quality (“grade
interruption of the water supply of 3”) wheat as “grade 1”. Agriculture
As investigators from UNITAD, the the Little Zab. Compared to 2020, is second only to oil as a sector
UN-appointed team tasked with wheat production in the region has plagued by corruption...
gathering evidence of crimes com- been reduced by 33%... After
mitted by ISIS in order to bring its protesters blocked the Iraq-Iran There were also renewed attempts
members to justice, work hard, two international road, the municipality to Arabise Kurdish-owned land.
bills concerning the issue have been agreed to a deal giving the govern- For example, on the 7th, a village in
put forward for consideration, one ment ten days to improve electrici- the sub-district of Sargaran was
in the federal parliament in ty and water supplies. On the 22nd, again targeted by Arabs from out-
Baghdad, the other in the Kurdistan however, as the situation had still side the province, who tried to evict
parliament. The one in Baghdad not improved in any way, the the inhabitants. As in previous
concerns the transmission by UNI- protests resumed… cases, they held written“permis-
TAD to Iraq of evidence that could sion” from the acting governor
lead to a death sentence; in Erbil it The continuing revelation of cor- Rakan Saed, but the Kurdish vil-
goes further, since it aims to estab- ruption cases has done little to calm lagers prevented the takeover.
lish a special court with foreign the anger of citizens. While Kirkuk After the incident, the police inter-
judges to judge, in collaboration has been suffering from a fuel crisis vened, but the issue remains unre-
with UNITAD, mass crimes com- for weeks, the city’s police solved.
mitted by ISIS, even if they were announced on the 7th that they had
committed outside Iraq. The seized 25 tankers illegally sent by Another source of strong tension is
Kurdistan Region of Iraq would the Oil Department to a private the Turkish military presence and
thus acquire, as Belgium has at pre- petrol station. The pro-Iranian mili- operations, which are as violent
sent, universal jurisdiction. tias of the Hashd al-Shaabi have also and indiscriminate as ever. In clear
However, Baghdad sees this initia- used fuel smuggling to finance violation of international law and
tive as a violation of its sovereignty, themselves, so much so that on the Iraqi sovereignty, air strikes by
and at the end of June, the Supreme 11 th , the Iraqi oil minister, Ihsan planes and drones targeted several
Court rejected the proposal... Abdul-Jabbar, went to Kirkuk to localities in Kurdistan at the begin-
“According to two sources [notes Le meet with provincial and security ning of the month, including Kista,
Monde], the Shiite parties in power officials... Even more seriously, for Amedi and Qandil. A vehicle in the
are opposed to any law, for fear of years the Iranian Revolutionary Yezidi town of Shingal (Sinjar), pos-
seeing the militias prosecuted in Guards (pasdaran) have been using sibly affiliated to the Sinjar
turn, even if the two bills specifically Iraq as a drug smuggling route, Resistance Units (YPS), was also
target crimes committed by the especially for crystal metham- hit. The Turkish invasion of Iraqi
Islamic State”. phetamine. A dozen people were Kurdistan has already resulted in
arrested in Kirkuk and five kilos of the recent deaths of dozens of civil-
The disputed territories have also methamphetamine were seized. On ians and the evacuation of at least
been the scene of numerous citizen the 22 nd , the Iraqi Integrity 38 villages, both Kurdish and
protests against lack of services and Commission reported that it had Christian (WKI).
corruption, similar to last year ’s uncovered corruption cases involv-
demonstrations in Southern Iraq. In ing the Kirkuk administration The following week, as Turkish air-
Kirkuk, while the heat is unbear- worth more than three billion craft struck a mountainous area of
able, electricity is cut off frequently, dinars, US$200 million. These Sheladiz (Dohuk) and a Christian
either because of attacks by ISIS or include illegal construction of flats village of Chaminke, the Special
because Iran has stopped supply- (often for the benefit of senior offi- Parliamentary Commission respon-
ing energy to Iraq. Taxis in the city cials), road construction, and even sible for assessing Turkish military
have protested against the shortage misappropriation of fuel supplies operations in Kurdistan presented
of subsidised petrol, and engineer- by the city’s federal police: they its report to the Speaker of
ing students have gathered outside registered 303 vehicles instead of Parliament, Rewaz Fayeq. First
the governorate demanding work. 213, so that they could sell 32,000 denouncing the presence of the
The Iraqi oil ministry had pledged litres of petrol to private petrol sta- PKK, which gives Turkey a pretext
to hire 1,000 graduates, but the pro- tions each month! Fuel distribution for its invasion, the report goes onYou can also read
