The Green Left Party held final events across the country and rallies in Istanbul, Van (Wan), Diyarbakır (Amed) and İzmir on Friday and Saturday, ahead of Turkey’s general elections on May 14, culminating its election campaign, which had started in Hakkari (Colemerg) on 24 April, with the Final Rally held in Yenikapı Square in Istanbul.
In Diyarbakır (Amed), the Communist Party of Kurdistan addressed the crowd in Saturday’s rally, stating that there will be no democracy in Ankara without the liberation of Diyarbakır (Amed). Co-chair of the Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP), Mithat Sancar, added that Kurds have not forgotten the government’s oppression and that Erdoğan and his partners are Kurdish enemies. Sancar went on to say that Amed would teach them a lesson that they will never forget. The final speech was given by Başak Demirtaş, who urged voters to change the course of history.
Yesterday’s rally in Izmir was focused on Deniz Poyraz, who lost her life in a fascist attack on the Izmir HDP headquarters in 2021. The speakers called for accountability for Poyraz, and attendees frequently chanted “Deniz Poyraz is immortal.” The Labour Party (EMEP) Chairman, Ercüment Akdeniz, announced that the AKP-MHP government will be erased on 14 May, and that the end of the road is visible. HDP Co-chairman Mithat Sancar stated that the party had not given in to government obstructions, and that the people must disperse the “murderous darkness” and bring peace to the country.
In Van (Wan), HDP Co-chair Pervin Buldan addressed the crowd today, stating that the people of Van had shown great will, and that tomorrow will be a beautiful day when history will be written once again. Buldan called on the people to vote for the Green Left Party and put an end to hunger, poverty, violence, denial, and oppression in the country.
Tens of thousands of people attended the Green Left rally in Istanbul with the slogan ‘The Great Beginning’. Speaking at the rally, Green Left Party Co-spokesperson Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar said: “They have only one seal of political life left”.
Dersim Dağ, Green Left Party Istanbul parliamentary candidate, made the opening speech and greeted the masses in Kurmanji. Emphasising that the massacres that took place during the AKP era should not be forgotten while going to the polls, Dağ said, “Go to the polls with all these in mind and put your stamp on the Green Left Party. This tree is the symbol of a free life. May our resistance be happy.”
Sırrı Süreyya Önder, one of the Istanbul Green Left candidates, said, “We have come to the end of a long period. We will send a government whose expiry date has long passed to the recycling bin. No one has ever stood in front of this struggle, no one ever will. We are the strongest.”
The rallies were well-attended, with hundreds of thousands of people taking part. The Green Left Party is hoping to gain more seats in parliament, as the current government’s policies have been widely criticised for their anti-democratic and authoritarian nature.
