The Green Left Party will be the most effective opposition party, said Turkey’s top pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Pervin Buldan on Tuesday during an Ankara meeting held to welcome in Green Left Party parliamentary candidates chosen to run for the 14 May elections.
“We have witnessed how the AKP [Justice and Development Party] government has tyrannised against opposition in this country […] and we will not bow down before the AKP,” said Buldan. “We have been denied and ignored for years, but we know that we have no alternative but to resist,” she added.
HDP Co-chair Mithat Sancar said that despite the ongoing closure case his party will continue the political struggle. He also mentioned the nomination process for candidates, noting that the party worked to create the widest consensus.
“Democratic transformation in this country is only possible with us. We will join forces and enter the parliament with the strongest representation,” Sancar said.
“The Green Left Party is here against those who try to leave us without a choice by using the power of the judiciary,” said Green Left Party Co-spokesperson İbrahim Akın in his speech, referring to the closure case against the HDP.
The party’s other co-spokesperson, Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar, emphasised at the first session on Tuesday morning held to introduce female candidates, that Green Left Party’s association with the HDP would continue in the strongest terms after the elections.
“We are together, we are together and side by side with all our differences. We are Kurds, Turks, Alevis, Circassians, Arabs, refugees, workers… We have so many different identities, but above all, we are women whose labour, identity and body are exploited,” Uçar said.
“We women are the ones who do not divide, on the contrary, we are the ones who grow bigger, reproduce, strengthen our unity and carry out the best modern struggle,” she added.
Also attending the Green Left Party’s meeting was Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-chair Saliha Aydeniz, along with representatives of parties in the Labour and Freedom Alliance and representatives of civil society organisations.
