A delegation from Iraq led by Yusra Recep, a member of the Iraqi parliament and the representatives of the Aleppo Yazidi House visited Sinjar, a Yazidi majority region in Iraqi Kurdistan which has been the focus of heated debates and discussions in the past months.
After the 9 October 2020 Erbil-Baghdad agreement between the federal government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) agreed upon ejecting the local Yazidi security forces from Sinjar and replacing them with a deployment of Iraqi military forces, local people in Sinjar have contiously protested against the decision defining it as “attempt at occupation”.
Since the agreement was signed, the Sinjar Autonomous Administrative Council has been seeking dialogue as the Yazidi people of the region have been organising an impressive resistance to the agreement with various events and protests for the world to hear their voices.
‘Demand for autonomy is legitimate’
A delegation led by the Iraqi MP Yusra Recep visited the Sinjar Autonomous Administrative Council and shared their support with the demands of the people of Sinjar.
“Demands of Sinjar are in compliance with the laws of Iraq. Iraqi laws also allow for Sinjar to be autonomous and for Sinjar people to self-govern themselves,” Recep said.
Calling on the Iraqi parliament, Recep said, “The demands of the Sinjar and Yazidi people for autonomy is legitimate. The Iraqi parliament should accept this demand.”
Raniya Cafer, a member of Aleppo Yazidi House Women’s Bureau shared her solidarity messages with the ongoing resistance in Sinjar, emphasising that the so-called Sinjar agreement aims at the occupation of Sinjar and that any resistance against such an occupation attack is legitimate.
“They want to repeat the attacks on Sinjar. They want to attack Sinjar. We know Turks act in a hostile way, but if Kurds support these hostile politics, this is a bigger issue,” Cafer said.