Hikmet Hatip, Aydın Yalvaç, Sıtkı Vakar, and Nasır Yağız, the spokespersons and officials of the HDP's Kurdistan Region Office in Hewlêr (Erbil), were forcibly placed into vehicles by the KDP's security forces and driven outside the boundaries of Hewlêr on 6 November. Without any official notice, the HDP representatives were taken in two separate vehicles and dropped off near the borders of Sulaymaniyah.

The Central Executive Committee (MYK) of the DEM Party released a written statement denouncing the expulsion of their representatives by the ruling KDP.

“We define the forcible transfer of our representatives from Hewlêr to Sulaymaniyah by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and its affiliated forces, which holds the powers of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), as a major setback for the future of Kurdish relations and democratic principles, and we follow this intolerant approach with regret. This dangerous step means sabotaging the ground for inter-party political dialogue and efforts towards national unity, which is the legitimate expectation of tens of millions of Kurds,” said the DEM Party statement, which further included the following:

“The DEM Party advocates the Kurdish people's struggle for freedom, democracy and peace under all circumstances. On this occasion, we need to remind that our predecessor HDP supported the independence referendum held in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) despite all kinds of pressure and criticism, while the regional states threatened it with starvation. Until just before the end of the resolution process, it was repeatedly stated that Hewlêr, like Amed (Diyarbakır), was the common home of the Kurds. Millions of Kurds do not expect political leaders to further divide and deepen the borders between Kurds as the hegemonic powers of the region want.

Relations between Kurdish political movements, wherever they are, must be based on mutual respect and direct dialogue. This is precisely the reason for the establishment of our office in Hewlêr. Unfortunately, the fact that our office in Hewlêr was made nonfunctional and its representatives were forcibly expelled from the city should be considered as a serious attack on the future of inter-Kurdish relations on the basis of unity.

We are always in favour of dialogue between political forces. On this basis, we call on the KDP to abandon this undemocratic and undiplomatic decision and to respect the political parties defending the democratic rights of the Kurdish people. There can be no legal, political and moral justification for the removal of our representatives from Hewlêr by force and pressure.

At the current stage, there has been no answer to our dialogue attempts with the KDP and KRG authorities for the solution of the problem, and no explanation has been made by those concerned as to why this anti-democratic attitude is preferred.”

The DEM Party listed their demands from the KDP and KRG as follows:

“Ending of the restrictions on our DEM Party and HDP representatives in Hewlêr,

Ensuring and guaranteeing the security of our official representation,

Keeping the channels of dialogue open without interruption on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and equality.”