Medya News
Daily Review
Breaking News
Subscribe
  • Home
  • All News
  • Opinion
  • Kurdistan
  • Women
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
  • More
    • Audio Articles
    • Economy
    • Culture & Art
    • Ecology
    • Newsletter
    • Daily Review
Youtube
PODCAST
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • All News
  • Opinion
  • Kurdistan
  • Women
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
  • More
    • Audio Articles
    • Economy
    • Culture & Art
    • Ecology
    • Newsletter
    • Daily Review
Youtube
PODCAST
No Result
View All Result
Medya News

Resistance of the peoples: the remarkable resilience of the HDP

1:29 pm 10/02/2022
A A
Resistance of the peoples: the remarkable resilience of the HDP
Share post

There have been intense discussions regarding the possible closure of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey.

In media organisations close to the Turkish government, lecturers, professors, ‘experts’ and journalists have all shared the view that even more stringent measures should be added to the current pressures that are being exerted on the HDP to prevent it from engaging in politics. Whilst some emphasize that the party should be closed, others argue that punishment of the top executives would make it unable to function. Some suggest that the annual state grants given to all parties should not be given to the HDP and that this would make it incapable of continuing its political life. These discussions have intensified since the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which demanded the release of the former co-chair of the HDP Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been in prison since November 2016.

Even though over five thousand HDP members are in prison – including the party’s co-chairs, members of parliament, mayors and executive members of the board – and many others have had to go into exile, public opinion polls show that support for the HDP has not decreased in Turkey. On the contrary, it is rising! If a few top executives from other parties were prevented from engaging in politics, those parties would not be able to function. Remove President Erdoğan from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and there would be no more AKP. Prevent the 10-15 senior executives from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) from engaging in politics, and the CHP would be unable to continue its political life. But with more than five thousand of its executives and members in prison, the HDP only gets stronger.

For a party to get any representation in the Turkish Parliament, it must receive at least 10% of the overall vote. Discussions are going on over how to bring the HDP down below the 10% threshold. Repression does not only come from the government. Except for some small left-wing parties, opposition parties stay away from the HDP as if they were escaping from the plague. They are afraid of the wrath of the government, but they also have their own histories of anti-Kurdish prejudice. Some, like the government, are discussing dismantling the HDP.

Why is such an approach being shown to the HDP, which, despite all the pressures, has received six million votes and managed to send eighty deputies to parliament, which has become the primary party in many of the provinces where Kurds live, and which is now the third biggest party in the parliament? To find the answer, we need to look at the foundational philosophy of the Turkish Republic.

The Ottoman empire ruled across three continents, but, after its collapse, the Turkish elite managed to establish a state within Turkey’s current borders and were fearful of losing that as well. To try and prevent this, they created a system that was monolithic and assimilationist, and extremely nationalist and repressive and they followed a strategy of Turkifying all other ethnic groups. However, despite massacres, exile and bans on everything Kurdish, they failed to fully assimilate the large Kurdish population.

Despite the nominal transition to a multi-party system in 1946, there was nothing but nationalist politics apart from a brief interlude when the Turkish Labour Party won parliamentary seats in the late sixties, before being shut down. It would be more accurate to say that Turkey did not move to a full multi-party system until 1990 and the foundation of the People’s Labour Party (HEP), which was the ancestor of the HDP.

With the exception of some small leftist parties, Turkish political parties share the same mentality, particularly concerning the Kurds. Thus, the lifting of parliamentary immunity and the imprisonment of many HDP deputies, including the party’s co-chairs, was carried out with the support of the CHP. CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu supported the abolition of parliamentary immunities through a constitutional amendment and said that he would not appeal to the constitutional court, even though this was unconstitutional.

When Turkey invaded northern Syria and occupied the region of Afrin, and then Serê Kanîye (Ras al-Ain) and Girê Spî (Tellabyad), displacing the largely Kurdish population and bringing in jihadists to replace them, Erdogan’s government was supported by all the nationalist parties, including the CHP, even though this planned demographic change constitutes a crime against humanity.

The HDP, along with other parties from the same tradition, brought in a system of co-presidency, which is not acknowledged in Turkish legislation. One of the co-chairs should be a man and the other should be woman. If one is a Kurd, the other should be from another ethnic group – for example, a Turk or an Arab. This system is implemented from top to bottom. In municipalities, it takes the form of co-mayorship. Through its gender quotas, the HDP has brought record numbers of women to parliament and municipalities. The HDP aims to have all ethnicities and beliefs living in Turkey represented in the parliament for the first time in history. Under the HDP banner, Kurdish, Turkish, Armenian, Arab, Assyrian, Alevi, Sunni and Yazidi representatives have been brought into parliament and given the opportunity to represent their own communities.

The HDP is criticised for practising “ethnic politics”. In fact, the HDP is the only party which does not practise ethnic politics, and, instead, has a policy of representing all peoples living in Turkey. When we look at all the other parties, we see that their politics is based on a dominant Turkish ethnicity.

Because the HDP has been defending the rights of the Kurdish people and seeking a peaceful political solution to the Kurdish Question – the most important issue in Turkish politics – it has become a target of the ethnic-nationalist state. The HDP is accused of separatism because it advocates changing the strict centralised system, which is the cause of many problems, so as to give more initiative to local authorities and because it defends education in the mother tongue. Even the party’s support for environmentalism and for the protection of historic heritage are posed as problematic and used as ‘evidence’ of criminal behaviour.

The HDP also adopts a different stance from Turkey’s other main parties with respect to foreign policy. Unlike the other parties, it uses the international arena to criticise anti-democratic practices carried out by the Turkish Government and it argues that Turkey should abide by the standards of the international organisations to which it is party. For example, in almost all sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly and of the Local and Regional Congress of the Council of Europe, HDP representatives criticise the anti-democratic practices in Turkey. As a result, some representatives have been put in prison and others have been banned from travelling abroad so as to prevent them from attending meetings organised by international institutions.

The HDP is in favour of Turkey’s membership of the EU, which would require Turkey to fulfil the Copenhagen Criteria for accession, including stipulations on democracy and human rights. It believes it will be easier to solve most existing problems within the framework of the European Criteria. The party agrees with the criticisms of Turkey raised in the reports prepared during the accession process but argues that the EU should not be satisfied merely to criticise undemocratic practices. It calls upon the EU to follow its criticisms with action.

In the June 2015 elections, the HDP entered parliament with 13.2% of the votes and 80 deputies, causing Erdoğan to lose the majority he needed to form a government. This was a turning point that ended a brief interlude of hope. Erdoğan ended the peace negotiations that had been ongoing since 2013 and launched a terrible period of violence. Having lost politically, Erdoğan resorted to violence and military strength.

The HDP is exposed to all these pressures because it is the party that provides the most opposition to the current Erdoğan regime and puts it under most pressure. Thanks to HDP tactics in the last local elections in 2019, when it called upon its supporters to vote for CHP candidates in key cities, Erdoğan lost in the major municipalities of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Mersin and Antalya. The HDP has proven its decisive role in Turkish politics by ensuring that Erdoğan lost his power in the June 2015 elections and in most of the big cities in the 2019 local elections. Consequently, Erdoğan is pursuing a policy of revenge. However, on the evidence of current trends, if this type of politics continues, the HDP will go on growing and Erdoğan and his far-right nationalist partners will go on shrinking and losing.

 


Share post

Related Posts

KCK extends no-action period: Besê Hozat

KCK extends no-action period: Besê Hozat

March 29, 2023
Self-declared Hizbullahist makes public death threat against opposition MPs in Turkey

Self-declared Hizbullahist makes public death threat against opposition MPs in Turkey

March 29, 2023
Labour and Freedom Alliance running against ‘darkest alliance in history’: HDP Co-chair Sancar

Labour and Freedom Alliance running against ‘darkest alliance in history’: HDP Co-chair Sancar

March 29, 2023
Medya News Daily Review: 29 March 2023

Medya News Daily Review: 29 March 2023

March 29, 2023
Turkey’s Labour Party candidates will run under alliance list

Turkey’s Labour Party candidates will run under alliance list

March 29, 2023
Over half of forest cover lost since Turkish takeover of Syria’s Afrin: report

Over half of forest cover lost since Turkish takeover of Syria’s Afrin: report

March 29, 2023

Videos

KCK extends no-action period: Besê Hozat
KURDISTAN

KCK extends no-action period: Besê Hozat

March 29, 2023

All News

KCK extends no-action period: Besê Hozat

Self-declared Hizbullahist makes public death threat against opposition MPs in Turkey

Labour and Freedom Alliance running against ‘darkest alliance in history’: HDP Co-chair Sancar

Medya News Daily Review: 29 March 2023

Turkey’s Labour Party candidates will run under alliance list

Over half of forest cover lost since Turkish takeover of Syria’s Afrin: report

Medya News

Impressum

About us

Privacy Policy

Subscribe
Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • All News
  • Opinion
  • Kurdistan
  • Women
  • World
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
  • Ecology
  • Economy
  • Culture & Art
  • Daily Review
  • Breaking News
  • Newsletter
  • Authors
  • Podcast

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT

Add New Playlist

Loading
Contact