Feleknas Uca, currently Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP for Diyarbakir, Turkey, and formerly an MEP for Germany, said that the people of Sinjar (Shengal) in northern Iraq had a fait accompli imposed on them after the 9 October 2020 agreement between the Federal government of Iraq and the Kurdish Regional government, and criticised the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)’s move to take up military positions in the region on the eve of the Iraqi elections.
She said in an interview with Mezopotamya News Agency that a delegation of the HDP would be attending meetings at the United Nations in the coming days to raise the rights of the people of Sinjar.
Pointing out that the agreement of 9 October 2020 had been signed by the administrations of Erbil (Hewlêr) and Baghdad with total disregard for the political will of the people of Sinjar, she said that both the US and the UN were involved, because they had acted as mediators and observers.
“The agreement between Erbil and Baghdad was made under the influence of Turkey. Pressure from Turkey ensured that this deal was signed,” she said. “But it is not a legitimate agreement because it was not discussed and ratified in the national and regional parliaments. As a matter of fact, it was part of an assault plan against our people and was signed with the mediation and under the observation of the US and UN. So the resolutions made against the people of Sinjar do not only involve the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Iraq and Turkey, because they were reached with the consent of global powers like the European Union and the US as well.”
Uca also strongly criticised a recent attempt by KDP forces to enter Sinjar using the election campaign as a pretext.
“The KDP candidates tried to get into Sinjar, supposedly for the election campaign, accompanied by thousands of troops, military vehicles and artillery. Everybody has the right to hold an election campaign. But we have to ask why they tried to do this with a military company as if they were going to war. We are used to election campaigns. We know that if troops accompany the campaigners, this means they are targetting the will of the people; there is a danger they will subjugate the will of the people, and they are attempting to intimidate the people by the use of dictatorial methods. All these things indicate that their campaign was not conducted in a fair and legal manner.”