“Erdoğan’s departure is necessary for our society to breathe a sigh of relief,” said Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Pervin Buldan, alongside the prominent Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk who defined the second round of presidential elections as “a referendum between fascism and democracy,” in a press conference held on Friday by the HDP and the Green Left Party in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority Diyarbakır (Amed) province.
Buldan expressed her belief that Turkey’s path to resolution, democratic progress, peace, and prosperity relies on the removal of Erdoğan, cautioning against the disastrous outcomes that his victory would bring.
Türk urged the Kurdish people and all citizens to actively participate in the election, highlighting the importance of democracy, human rights, and the future of the Kurdish people. Türk acknowledged the existence of nationalist debates that have caused resentment among the people, but emphasised the need to make a choice that allows society to breathe, indicating their support for an option against fascism, particularly aligning with Kılıçdaroğlu.
Referring to the recent discussions about the protocol Kılıçdaroğlu signed with the far-right Victory Party leader Ümit Özdağ, Buldan said, “We don’t dwell on Özdağ’s racist and fascist rhetoric. What matters for us are Kılıçdaroğlu’s promises,” adding, “We take Kılıçdaroğlu’s promises on both the trustee issue and the solution of the Kurdish conflict as basis.”
Kılıçdaroğlu has repeatedly pledged that if he is elected president, he will end the Kurdish issue in the country through peaceful means. “The place for solving all problems, including the Kurdish question, is the Grand National Assembly of Turkey,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in March, after the meeting with HDP co-chairs in parliament. “We will end the fighting. As the 13th president, I will finish the fighting in this country. I promise. I make this promise to my nation,” he said.
Opposition reaffirms commitment
The discussions in question arose in the wake of the protocol signed by Kılıçdaroğlu and Özdağ before the far-right leader was able to express his support for centre-left Kılıçdaroğlu.
What caused the debate was the protocol’s stance on replacing mayors with trustees, as following the 2019 local elections, many mayors from the pro-Kurdish HDP were replaced by state-appointed trustees. In their programme, Kılıçdaroğlu’s six-party alliance pledged to put an end to this practice, emphasising that elected officials should remain in office unless convicted by a court.
There is however a distinction between the current practice and the protocol, as the latter suggests that such convicted local administrators can be dismissed from mayoral positions only by judicial ruling rather than by governmental decree, as has been the case currently.
Should Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu secure victory in the run-off vote, the main opposition bloc would ensure that elected mayors cannot be dismissed without due process of law, said the spokesman for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Faik Öztrak, providing details about the protocol.
Öztrak reaffirmed the commitment of the opposition bloc to uphold the principles stated in the joint political policies consensus text. “We will ensure that elected executives cannot be dismissed without a judicial decision,” he remarked. “This is the promise of the Nation Alliance. It is also clearly stated in the text of the protocol that no steps will be taken without a judicial decision.”
