Iraqi Activists Eye Political Mainstream after Protest Movement Crushed

Iraqi demonstrators take part in ongoing anti-government protests in Nasiriyah, Iraq January 29, 2021. (Reuters)
Iraqi demonstrators take part in ongoing anti-government protests in Nasiriyah, Iraq January 29, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iraqi Activists Eye Political Mainstream after Protest Movement Crushed

Iraqi demonstrators take part in ongoing anti-government protests in Nasiriyah, Iraq January 29, 2021. (Reuters)
Iraqi demonstrators take part in ongoing anti-government protests in Nasiriyah, Iraq January 29, 2021. (Reuters)

Iraqi lawyer Hussein al-Ghorabi said he left his hometown of Nasiriyah four months ago after an armed group threatened him over his political activism.

Now, as he moves around Iraq, he is trying to set up a political party that he and some fellow activists hope will challenge those in power whom they accuse of corruption and ineptitude.

He is one of scores of people from Nasiriyah, the city at the forefront of a mass anti-government uprising in 2019, who have fled after receiving threats.

“We want to change the political class. Protesters have been asking, what can be an alternative to existing political parties? So we started to discuss creating that alternative,” he said.

At least 500 protesters were killed during demonstrations which broke out in October, 2019, over jobs and poor services. Tens of thousands took to the streets calling for the overthrow of Iraq’s ruling elite.

Activists said they were still being targeted by unnamed armed groups, especially in Nasiriyah - the last area of the country where protesters still stage regular rallies - and are worried their participation in elections will be thwarted.

“We face the threat of weapons and militias. How can we freely take part in elections in these conditions?” said Muhannad al-Mansouri, a 34-year-old activist who also fled Nasiriyah.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who took over as interim leader after the 2019 uprising toppled the previous government, has vowed to crack down on what he says are criminal armed groups trying to destabilize the country.

Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Saad Maan said the government was putting into action a plan to secure the safety of voting stations and address people’s complaints of violence and intimidation.

Change from within
Activists who once refused to take part in a political system they say is rigged are now looking to change that system by getting elected to parliament.

Ghorabi wants his Beit Watani (National Home) party to oppose a sectarian power-sharing system put in place after the US invasion in 2003.

It will focus on inclusive nationalism and human rights, he said, in a country that has been torn apart by internecine violence and political repression.

He was in the process of registering the party with Iraq’s election commission, at a cost of 36 million dinars ($25,000), and has around 2,000 members, he told Reuters.

“We want to bring together Iraqis of different backgrounds around a new Iraqi and patriotic identity.”

He hopes to garner votes from protesters and those who boycotted the last general election in 2018 over alleged vote rigging. Kadhimi had vowed to hold early elections in June. Politicians decided to push them back to October.

Ghorabi said his party would only run in a fair vote monitored by the United Nations. Discussions are underway over the involvement of international monitors in October.

Beit Watani rejects alliances with established political figures. It says it will look at joining forces with Imtidad, another Nasiriyah-based party recently founded by prominent opposition figure Alaa al-Rikabi, after the election.

Other parties are emerging which are more open to teaming up with mainstream secular politicians who they believe can help them push through reforms and stamp out corruption.

Mohammed al-Sheikh, 34, joined Al Marhala a few months ago, a party co-founded by advisers of Kadhimi.

Sheikh said it was important to get into parliament, even if that meant aligning with established politicians.

“Since 2003 we’ve had no real opposition in Iraq’s parliament ... If we don’t get into power, we want to be the opposition.”



What to Know about the Latest Effort to End Türkiye's 40-year Kurdish Conflict

FILED - 02 November 2041, Hesse, Frankfurt_Main: A man displays a flag with the image of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan at the Kurdish Newroz celebration in Frankfurt. Photo: Boris Roessler/dpa
FILED - 02 November 2041, Hesse, Frankfurt_Main: A man displays a flag with the image of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan at the Kurdish Newroz celebration in Frankfurt. Photo: Boris Roessler/dpa
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What to Know about the Latest Effort to End Türkiye's 40-year Kurdish Conflict

FILED - 02 November 2041, Hesse, Frankfurt_Main: A man displays a flag with the image of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan at the Kurdish Newroz celebration in Frankfurt. Photo: Boris Roessler/dpa
FILED - 02 November 2041, Hesse, Frankfurt_Main: A man displays a flag with the image of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan at the Kurdish Newroz celebration in Frankfurt. Photo: Boris Roessler/dpa

A group of 30 Kurdish fighters clad in camouflage fatigues burned their weapons in a large cauldron in northern Iraq on Friday, in a symbolic gesture marking the first concrete step in an effort to end one of the Middle East’s longest-running insurgencies.

The ceremonial laying down of arms by members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK -- including 15 women — comes months after the group’s imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, called on it to disarm and disband as part of a new peace effort with Türkiye. Ocalan repeated that call in a video message to his fighters this week.

The process in Türkiye was initiated in October by Devlet Bahceli, a firebrand ultranationalist politician who has usually opposed any concessions to Kurdish identity or rights.

While Turkish officials have welcomed the first step toward the PKK’s disarmament, questions remain about the future of Kurdish fighters in Syria.

What is the PKK? The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has waged an armed insurgency against Türkiye since 1984, initially with the aim of establishing a Kurdish state in the southeast of the country. Over time, the objective evolved into a campaign for autonomy and rights for Kurds within Türkiye.

The conflict between militants and state forces, which has spread beyond Türkiye’s borders into Iraq and Syria, has killed tens of thousands of people. The PKK is considered to be a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.

Who is Ocalan? Abdullah Ocalan, who as a student of political science in Ankara became deeply involved in leftist movements, formed the PKK in 1978 as a Marxist organization. He fled to Syria in 1979, along with other PKK members, where he remained until 1998, when Syria expelled him under intense pressure from Türkiye.

Ocalan was captured in Kenya in 1999 and imprisoned on Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara, where he remains to this day. His death sentence for treason was commuted to a life term in prison after Türkiye abolished the death penalty.

The 76-year-old endures as a symbol for Kurdish independence and rights and continues to wield influence over the Kurdish movement, with past messages relayed through family members or lawyers resonating beyond Türkiye, in Iraq and Syria.

Push for peace

In October, Bahceli, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, suggested Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounces violence and disbands the PKK.

It was a major shift for the hardline politician who had previously strongly supported the state’s military action against the militant group and its affiliates in neighboring Syria and rejected any notion of negotiation.

In a message delivered through senior officials of the pro-Kurdish People's Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, Ocalan called on the PKK leadership to take the decision to disband and disarm in February.

The PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire in March in response to Ocalan’s call and later announced its decision to disarm.

It was not immediately clear what concessions, if any, the Kurdish groups would get in return. PKK officials have said they expect former fighters to be given a path to integrate into the political system in Türkiye.

There are also concerns that some splinter groups may emerge within the PKK and that attacks may continue.

Soon after Bahceli's announcement, the PKK claimed an attack on Türkiye’s key aerospace company outside of Ankara that killed several people.

Previous attempts

There have been several peace efforts between the Turkish state and the PKK over the years, including secret negotiations held in Oslo, Norway from 2009 until 2011. However, none have yielded results.

The last attempt to reach a peace deal took place between 2013 and 2015 with a series of talks between Turkish officials and Ocalan, who declared a ceasefire and withdrew fighters to bases in northern Iraq.

Turkish officials took steps to improve Kurdish rights, including allowing Kurdish-language broadcasts. The process collapsed in July 2015, after a series of violent attacks, including one by the ISIS group that killed 33 pro-Kurdish activists.

Since then, Türkiye has cracked down on its pro-Kurdish movement and has jailed thousands of people, including the former leader of the main pro-Kurdish political party, Selahattin Demirtas, over alleged links to the PKK.

Reshaping the region

The latest peace effort comes at a time when Türkiye and the Kurds are both seeking security to face the challenges in the Middle East.

The renewed peace initiative unfolds amid fundamental changes reshaping the region, including the reconfiguration of power in Syria after the toppling of President Bashar Assad, the weakening of the Hezbollah militant movement in Lebanon, and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Türkiye strongly supports a deal reached between Syria’s new administration and the Kurdish-led and US backed Syrian Democratic Forces under which the SDF forces would merge with the new Syrian national army. The US envoy to Syria told The Associated Press this week that the sides remain at odds over the merger.

Hamish Kinnear, Senior Middle East and North Africa Analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said Ocalan’s decision to abandon the armed struggle coincides with a period when the PKK’s leverage is weak due to military setbacks and regional isolation.

“The PKK’s armed struggle was already faltering in the face of advances by Türkiye’s military, while its popularity among its traditional base was in decline,” Kinnear said. ”Ultimately, the peace talks were a useful off ramp in which improvement of Kurdish rights could still be pursued."

However, some believe the main aim of the reconciliation effort is for Erdogan’s government to garner Kurdish support for a new constitution that would allow him to remain in power beyond 2028, when his term ends.

Bahceli has openly called for a new constitution, saying it was essential to keep Erdogan in power for Türkiye’s future. Erdogan and Bahceli are reportedly seeking parliamentary support from the DEM.