Attacks on Kurdish activists and intellectuals continue in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Turkish news service MIT and Parastin, the secret service of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), are held responsible for the attacks. The main target of these attacks are Kurds who have come to South Kurdistan due to political persecution in Turkey. Five people have been killed in targeted attacks since September 2021. Jineolojî activist Nagihan Akarsel was shot dead in Sulaymaniyah on 4 October 2022. On 28 August 2022, the Turkish secret service MIT killed the author and historian Suheyl Xurşîd Ezîz, a member of the General Assembly of the Tevgera Azadî movement, in front of his house in Kifrî. On 17 May 2022, Zeki Çelebi was the victim of an armed attack in front of his restaurant in Sulaymaniyah and succumbed to his injuries a day later. On 17 September 2021, the member of the Committee of the Martyrs’ Families, Yasin Bulut (Şükrü Serhed), was murdered in Sulaymaniyah. The day before, Ferhad Bariş Kondu from South Kurdistan was seriously injured in an armed attack in Sulaymaniya. Most recently, Hüseyin Türeli was shot dead in a shopping center in Duhok on 18 April.

Nasır Yağız, representative of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Hewlêr (Erbil), spoke to Mezopotamya Agency (MA) about the attacks.

Yağız said the attacks in South Kurdistan are part of the Turkish state's concept of annihilation against the Kurds and added: "These attacks are aimed at intimidating Kurds. They are carried out by MIT in cooperation with local figures. An attack was carried out on our friend Hüseyin Türeli last week. This political murder was committed in a shopping centre. To date, the government of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has taken no action to prevent the killings.”

The attacks were aimed at Kurdish identity, according to Yağız. “The murdered people are our friends who have political problems and therefore came to South Kurdistan. The Kurdish administration is unable to offer them decent living conditions because they cannot guarantee internal security. It is the South Kurdish KDP government that encourages these dark forces. South Kurdistan should actually be the safest place for Kurds from Northern Kurdistan, but our lives are in constant danger here. The goal of these attacks is the destruction of the resistant free Kurdish identity and existence.”

Yağız also criticized the silence of the United Nations regarding the attacks and stressed that this silence encourages the perpetrators. The HDP representation in Hewlêr has held various talks on this subject, said Yağız, pointing out that politically persecuted people from Turkey in South Kurdistan first apply for asylum at the UNHCR and the UN organization is therefore directly responsible. “The United Nations is not fulfilling its duty and responsibility. Their silence enpowers the local government. Kurds cannot be protected in Kurdish areas. MIT has established hundreds of bases in Kurdistan. This is endangering the lives of people who have settled here under UN law."