"Fact" daily writes:
"The other day, representatives of the HayaVote initiative, Atom Mkhitaryan, Aram Petrosyan and Davit Sargsyan, went to Erbil, the capital of Kurdish autonomy in Northern Iraq, to observe the parliamentary elections. The HayaVote delegation was one of the international observation missions licensed by the High Electoral Commission of Kurdish Autonomy, the only one from Armenia. In the conversation with "Fact", the head of the Armenian delegation, Atom Mkhitaryan, states that they received the invitation to observe the election process from the High Electoral Commission of Iraq. "We sent our data, we were accredited as an international observer and sent an invitation. It was the first time that a delegation from Armenia went to Northern Iraq to observe the election process. In a few days, we will also present our opinion on the course of the elections to their committee, this is a requirement of the law," Mkhitaryan said in an interview with "Pasti". It informs that Iraqi Kurdistan has a population of 4.5 million, mostly Kurds. "It has a parliament, prime minister, ministers. On October 20, Iraqi Kurdistan parliament elections were held under the amended code. According to the new electoral code, the parliament will have 100 deputies, five of which are intended for national minorities, and one for Armenians. The northern part of Iraq, where Kurdistan is, borders Turkey, and during the Genocide, many Armenians, just crossing the border, settled here. There is an Armenian population there, mostly Kurdish-speaking Armenians, but they have preserved their religion. The region of Zakho, where Armenians live, directly borders Turkey. We have two Armenian churches here, the second one was built in 2019 in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, with the financing of the Kurdish government," says our interlocutor. During the three days in Erbil, the delegates visited the High Electoral Commission of the Kurdish Autonomy, met with the chairman of the commission, Omar Ahmed, visited the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, met with the member of the political bureau of the party, Sadi Ahmed Pire, as well as with the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Kurdish Autonomy, Safin Dizai. "The relations with Armenia, the international situation, existing conflicts and other issues were at the basis of all the meetings and discussions," concludes Atom Mkhitaryan.
