FIRST ELECTION AS A POLITICAL PARTY
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party’s electoral program announced includes 12 sections, with specific pledges to particular groups including women, youth, LGBT communities and workers. The HDP also made promises in several areas, including the economy, foreign policy, and the environment. Participating in the elections as a political party for the first time, the HDP adopted the slogan; “We the HDP, We to the parliament.” The HDP had previously run its candidates as independents in order to be elected since Turkey’s 10 percent electoral threshold is not applied to independents. The HDP is claimed to strongly oppose the execution of presidential system introduced by the AK Party as a way to retaliate against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The party also promises to abolish Turkey’s 10 percent electoral threshold and supports the notion of democratic autonomy.
ROLE IN THE PEACE PROCESS
The HDP is one of the parties to the peace process aiming to resolve 30 years of armed conflict with the outlawed PKK. The peace process with Abdullah Ocalan who is the imprisoned leader of the PKK, was started at the beginning of 2013, by the initiatives of AK Party government. Along the way, the process experienced ups and downs as the deputies of the HDP often visited Ocalan to run the negotiations between the sides. The party uses this position to threaten the government if they lose in the June 7 elections. The deputy chairman of the party, Pervin Buldan recently warned of political turmoil saying “Our failure to reach the 10 percent of vote will mean a new crisis.” In October 2014, call of the HDP for a rally in support of the Kurdish city of Kobane in Syria against ISIS advance had sparked violent protests in the southeastern Turkey. More than 40 people were killed brutally and many were injured in the demonstrations throughout Turkey.
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
