The Kurds under attack in Syria, Iraq and Iran – Francesca Gnetti

On November 20, the Turkish military conducted a series of raids against Kurdish targets in northern Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan, resulting in the deaths of around thirty people. In response some rockets were fired at the Turkish border, causing three deaths and six injuries. Ankara accuses the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (FDS) of being responsible for the attack that left six dead and 81 injured in Istanbul on November 13, but both groups have denied their involvement.

The attack marks a new peak in tensions between Turkey and the Kurds. For some time Ankara has been threatening an intervention in the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas of Syria, which are controlled by fighters of the Popular Protection Units (YPG), affiliated with the PKK, and where there are also Turkish soldiers. Until now, however, the opposition of Russia, Iran and the Western powers had stopped the plans of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The attack offered Ankara the pretext to take action, also taking advantage of the increase in nationalistic sentiments and against the presence of Syrian refugees in view of the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in June 2023.

The PKK has been fighting a bloody rebellion against the Turkish state since 1984 with the aim of gaining independence or greater autonomy. Turkey, the European Union and the United States consider it a terrorist group. However, these countries have different views on the Ypg. Under the banner of the FDS, the YPG have been allied with Washington in the battle against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria. A small contingent of US soldiers is still stationed in the northeast of the country, near the Turkish border.

After the November 13 bombing (the first of its kind in more than five years), Turkish authorities released a photo of a woman who was arrested on suspicion of planting the bomb and of working for the PKK. Dozens of other people suspected of being involved in the bombing were arrested. However, an analysis by the Jerusalem Post points out that no evidence has been provided to support this version of events: “While Ankara’s official narrative on Sunday evening was that the explosion in Istanbul ‘might’ be terrorism, Monday morning it was not only decided yes, but the culprit had also been found and every piece of the puzzle was in place.

The article also points out other inconsistencies: “According to the Turkish authorities, the woman entered Turkey from Afrin, Syria, an area that was under Kurdish control until the Turkish-led invasion in 2018, following which many people have been forced to flee or be ethnically cleansed by the Turks. Afrin is currently in the hands of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels and Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), a group affiliated with Al Qaeda. The HTS has recently strengthened its presence in Afrin and jihadists from the Islamic State group have been identified in the area. It is unclear how a woman would travel from Afrin to Turkey, given that Ankara has built a wall and fence at the border and maintains a strong presence of security agents in the area to prevent Syrians from fleeing to the neighboring country. This has not prevented Ankara from making statements. It could be an excuse to support the HTS or other groups, to increase its control over the area or to persecute the Kurds”.

The Turkish authorities immediately said that the attack in Istanbul was linked to “Ayn al Arab”, the Arabic name of Kobane, which Ankara often uses in an attempt to erase the city’s Kurdish history and identity. And Kobane was one of the targets of the bombing of 20 November. The symbolic significance of this Kurdish-majority city, epicenter of the resistance against IS since 2014 and over which Ankara would like to impose its control as part of the plan to establish a thirty-kilometer “safe zone” along the northern Syria. Turkey has invaded northern Syria three times since 2016.

The Turkish bombings also hit the Sinjar area, in northern Iraq, where the Yazidi minority lives, massacred by IS in 2014. According to some experts, Ankara could continue the offensive with a land operation. Oytun Orhan, who deals with Syria at the Orsam institute in Ankara, explained to Arab News that by choosing to strike targets like Kobane and Sinjar, Turkey wants to signal to the United States and other Western countries that it will not stop, even if their enemies are not the same.

The Kurds are not only under attack in Syria and Iraq, but also in Iran, i.e. in all countries (including Turkey) where they live and constitute a minority of the population. For a review of the Kurds’ century-long struggle for independence, marked by marginalization and persecution, read the Council on Foreign Relations timeline, the Reuters outline and the BBC explanation.

In recent days, the repression by the Iranian authorities has particularly affected the Kurdish regions in the west of the country, where demonstrations against the regime have multiplied. According to human rights organization Hengaw, at least 30 protesters were killed by security forces in Kurdish cities. In Javanroud alone there have been seven fatalities since 20 November. The funerals of two of them turned into a big protest the next day. In a video taken by the BBC Persian people are seen injured and the sound of gunfire is heard. Another video shows a convoy of Revolutionary Guard pick-up trucks surmounted by machine guns en route to Mahabad, where at least twenty victims have been killed in recent days. According to activists, the authorities have imposed martial law in the city.

The Kurdish region has been the epicenter of the uprising since it erupted on September 16 following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of the religious police. Amini was originally from Saqqez, a city in Iranian Kurdistan. The Kurds represent one of the main ethnic minorities in Iran – about ten million out of a population of 83 million – and have always been neglected and discriminated against by the authorities. According to the Hengaw organization, which is based in Iraqi Kurdistan, eighty people have been killed and four thousand arrested in Kurdish-populated areas of Iran since the protests began.

The Tehran regime accuses Kurdish armed opposition groups active in neighboring Iraq of fomenting unrest in the region. He did not provide any proof and the videos circulating on social networks only show unarmed protesters confronting the security forces. But that didn’t stop the Revolutionary Guards from bombing the headquarters of what they call “dissident groups” in Iraqi Kurdistan on November 21, killing one person. More drone raids occurred on 22 November. It is the second attack in less than ten days against the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran and the Iranian Kurdish nationalist group Komala, which have been operating in the autonomous region in northern Iraq for decades. On November 14, another person was killed and eight were injured in the bombing.