JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Citizens celebrated the HDP victory in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan by taking to the streets in Rojava and Southern Kurdistan. The first message of congratulations for Turkey's first Êzidî parliamentarian, Feleknas Uca, came from fighters celebrating the HDP victory in Shengal.

The victory of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey's Sunday elections has been celebrated not just for those in Turkey, but for peoples across Kurdistan who agree that the HDP's success represents a hopeful change for the Middle East.

When Feleknas Uca became the first Êzidî ever elected to Turkey's Parliament, her first message of congratulation came in from the Êzidî city of Shengal. Êzidî and other fighters in Shengal are currently in the midst of an effort to push out the Daesh gang members who have been occupying the city since the genocidal attack on the Êzidîs in August 2014.

"On the phone, they said that the fighters in Shengal were dancing halay," she said, referring to a traditional Kurdish dance. "The Êzidîs in Shengal told me, 'you're our representative too; don't forget.'" Feleknas Uca, born in Germany, also holds the distinction of being the first Êzidî to serve in the European Parliament.

She says her first business in Parliament, after working to have the right to swear her oath in Kurdish, will be to call for justice for the 500 villages burned by Turkish soldiers in the 1990s and for the current Turkey-sponsored Daesh attacks on Shengal and Kobanê.

Meanwhile, in Rojava, citizens in all three cantons took to the streets to celebrate the victory. Citizens held spontaneous car convoys in celebration in Qamişlo, Amûdê, Til Temir and Efrîn, as well as in Kobanê, once they heard that the elections results were confirmed.

The Federal Kurdistan Region of Iraq also had celebrations of the victory in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Ranya and Kelar. The people flooded into the streets in convoys, chanting slogans and ululating in celebration.

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