The pro-Kurdish left-wing HDP party and its allies called on Friday to vote for Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, the main opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the presidential election on May 14. “For this historic election, we call on (…) the peoples of Turkey to vote for Kemal Kiliçdaroglu”, indicated in a statement the Labor and Freedom alliance dominated by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the third Turkish political force.
The HDP had already given tacit support to Kemal Kiliçdaroglu at the end of March, announcing that he would not present a presidential candidate. “Our objectives coincide (…). This is why we have decided to support Kiliçdaroglu”, also affirmed the co-president of the HDP, Mithat Sancar, in an interview published on Friday by the daily Sözcü. The HDP’s goal is to allow the opposition to win in the first round, said Mithat Sancar.
“Get the country out of this darkness”
“To bring the country out of this darkness, we need to get rid of this one-man rule,” he added. Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, at the head of an alliance bringing together six opposition parties, is given a good position against President Erdogan by most polls. The HDP, whose 2018 presidential candidate finished third with 8.4% of the votes cast, is considered the kingmaker of the presidential poll.
The HDP is accused by the Turkish government of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group described as “terrorist” by Ankara and its Western allies. Selahattin Demirtas, his figurehead, has himself been imprisoned since the end of 2016 for “terrorist propaganda”. Under the threat of a ban, the pro-Kurdish party will field candidates in the general elections – also held on May 14 – under the banner of the Green Left Party.