Kurdish civilians across Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran faced a year of intensifying violence and systemic repression in 2024, Amnesty International reported this week, as military operations and internal crackdowns hit Kurdish regions disproportionately hard.
In a comprehensive review of human rights conditions in the four countries, Amnesty described airstrikes, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on expression and assembly — often linked to state efforts targeting Kurdish communities or opposition groups.
In Syria, Turkey conducted widespread air strikes on north-eastern areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration for North and East Syria (AANES), destroying critical infrastructure and killing civilians. According to Amnesty, “Türkiye [Turkey] conducted at least 345 air strikes on north-eastern Syria in the first half of the year, destroying dozens of facilities including health centres, power transfer stations and oil and gas fields,” citing data from the victims’ advocacy group Synergy-Hevdesti.
After an attack on a Turkish defence facility in Ankara claimed by the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) — the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — Turkish forces retaliated with further strikes. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported that the Turkish operations in Syria “killed 12 civilians, including two children, and wounded 25 people”.
On 19 December, a drone strike reportedly by Turkish forces killed two journalists working for Kurdish media outlets in Syria. A day later, Kurdish forces reported that another Turkish drone strike in Al-Hasakah (Hesekê) governorate had killed three civilians.
In Iraq, the Kurdistan Region (KRI) remained a target of military action by both Turkey and Iran. Ankara continued “air and drone strikes on what it said were positions held by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)”, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps launched missiles at Erbil (Hewlêr) in January, “killing at least four civilians including one infant girl, and injuring at least six others”, according to the Kurdistan Region Security Council.
Amnesty reported that “security forces and individuals affiliated with powerful political parties continued to intimidate, harass and threaten journalists and activists” in the KRI, with at least one journalist “prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to a prison term for their media work”.
Gender-based violence also remained a critical issue in the Kurdistan Region. Authorities “failed to ensure that perpetrators of domestic violence, including in cases of murder, rape, beatings and burning, were held to account” and “imposed arbitrary restrictions on the freedoms of survivors” seeking protection, Amnesty said.
In Turkey, authorities prosecuted dozens of Kurdish politicians and rights defenders. In May, “24 Kurdish politicians were sentenced to between nine and 42 years’ imprisonment on politically trumped-up charges”, in the so-called ‘Kobani trial’, Amnesty noted. The charges stemmed from “social media posts and speeches… calling on their supporters to protest the siege of Kobani (Kobanê) by the Islamic State [ISIS] in Syria in October 2014”.
Amnesty also documented government interference in local elections: “The Ministry of Interior dismissed elected mayors in a number of provinces and districts, on terrorism-related charges, and appointed trustees from the ruling party in their place,” sparking mass protests.
After protests in Van (Wan) over the annulment of a pro-Kurdish mayor’s election, “264 people, including 10 lawyers and 15 children were detained” and 27 individuals “were arbitrarily remanded in pretrial detention”, the report said.
The report further documented media repression targeting Kurdish voices. On 21 December, “Authorities prevented journalists and others from reading out a press statement in Istanbul after the reports of a drone strike attack killing two Kurdish journalists from Türkiye in north-east Syria.” Nine people, including seven journalists, were “remanded in pretrial detention” for allegedly “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation”.
In Iran, Kurdish communities suffered under the broader state crackdown on ethnic minorities. Amnesty reported that “security forces unlawfully killed and injured with impunity scores of unarmed Kurdish cross-border couriers (kulbars)” along the border between the Kurdish-majority regions of Iran and Iraq. These killings were carried out without warning or accountability.
Iranian authorities also continued to subject ethnic minorities, including Kurds, to “widespread human rights violations” such as “discrimination in access to education, employment, adequate housing and political office”, as well as cultural marginalisation. Persian remained “the sole language of instruction in primary and secondary education”, despite calls for linguistic diversity.
Trials of Kurdish activists and alleged opposition members often violated international standards. Courts issued death sentences in cases involving “grossly unfair trials”, including for individuals from oppressed minorities. Amnesty stated that “oppressed minorities, including Baluchis and Afghan nationals, made up a disproportionate number of those executed”.
Across the region, the Amnesty report paints a bleak picture for Kurdish civilians caught between state militarisation and political persecution. Although regional powers continued to justify their actions as security measures or counterterrorism efforts, the consequences were disproportionately borne by Kurdish populations.
