Pro-Kurdish party renews support for Erdogan’s rival despite concerns

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -  The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on Thursday announced that it would continue supporting the Turkish opposition’s presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu despite concerns over his recent deal with a far-right party. 

The HDP, which endorsed Kilidaroglu during the first round of Turkey’s presidential elections on May 14, said on Wednesday that it would review its support for the opposition candidate after he signed a protocol with the far-right Victory Party and agreed to continue the government’s replacement of elected mayors with trustees if they face terror charges. The pro-Kurdish party has been the main victim of this policy, losing most of the municipalities it won in 2019.

Pervin Buldan, HDP co-chair, told reporters on Thursday that despite their concern over the seven-item protocol between Kilicdaroglu and the ultranationalist party, they would do their best to end President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade rule in the runoff on Sunday. 

“The goal is to build a free, democratic and just regime that is free from discrimination and where people can participate in government,” she said, adding that “We will go to the ballot box and together we will change the one-man regime,” referring to Erdogan who has enjoyed executive powers since 2017.

Our stance on the May 28 elections is clear: The current regime established by Erdogan & his cronies is the root cause of the social problems we face. The vote will decide the fate of this monstrous regime. We will go to the ballot box without fail and change this one-man rule.✌️ pic.twitter.com/pBFFAbxV1u

— HDP English (@HDPenglish) May 25, 2023

Erdogan gained 49.5 percent of the votes in the first round while Kilicdaroglu received less than 45 percent. 

Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), is the candidate of six opposition parties known as Nation Alliance. 

Some of the HDP mayors have been jailed for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since 2019. The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but it is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara. 

Thousands of HDP officials, members and supporters - including former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag - have been jailed for alleged PKK ties. 

 

Before the elections, Kilicdaroglu had promised to end the government’s removal of elected mayors and release political prisoners. This position attracted the pro-Kurdish party’s attention.