The executive board of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) is expected to decide on Wednesday to run in Turkey’s 14 May elections under the Green Left Party, Artı Gerçek reported.
The news that the HDP made its final decision on election strategy came after yesterday’s rumours indicating that the pro-Kurdish party was debating fielding its candidates under a different party to avoid the risk of being closed down by the Constitutional Court ahead of elections.
The decision of Turkey’s third-largest party in the Parliament became clear after the country’s Supreme Election Board announced the Green Left Party was among the political parties eligible for elections.
In order to increase the visibility of the Green Left Party and make voters familiar with the party’s emblem, the HDP will use the Green Party Logo in Newroz celebrations next week, Artı Gerçek said.
HDP officials told the news site that the decision was final and Wednesday’s executive board meeting will make it official.
Meanwhile, the HDP also submitted an application to Turkey’s top court, asking it to postpone the HDP’s defence presentation to some time after elections. The Constitutional Court last week postponed the date from 14 March to 11 April.
Though running in elections under a different party might be a disadvantage for other political parties, Turkey’s Kurdish movement is used to finding creative solutions to overcome obstacles in elections, as several Kurdish parties were closed down by Turkish authorities in the past and the movement at times fielded independent candidates in all Kurdish majority-provinces and Turkey’s metropolitan cities.
Mithat Sancar, the co-chair of the HDP, said that the HDP was determined to change both the Turkish government and the system, during his speech to his party’s group in the Turkish parliament on Tuesday.
“We are aware of our responsibilities, we are aware that we can succeed in change and transformation only through our self-power. We build our policies according to that,” Sancar said.