Pro-Kurdish parties held a meeting on Saturday with Kurdish dignitaries in Diyarbakır (Amed) to discuss the approaching second round of the presidential election.
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Pervin Buldan, along with Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk and regional HDP and Green Left Party MPs met with local leaders and dignitaries of the Kurdish-majority region, to discuss the results of 14 May elections and to emphasise the importance of unity and the safeguarding of ballot boxes in the presidential run-off on Sunday, 28 May.
Prominent politician Ahmet Türk stressed the need for unity in the Kurds’ ongoing struggle for freedom and equality. “We are going through a historical process, and the most important thing for us is unity. A decision-making mechanism needs to be established in order to create our future together. Today, no matter how much we repeat that we are a party of Turkey, they still see us as a Kurdish party. We are proud of this. We are fighting for equality. Kurds and the oppressed want a just and free life. … I appeal to all our people; if we cannot ensure unity, we will be faced with a disaster. Tomorrow we will go to the polls and cast our votes,” he said.
Reflecting on the results of the 14 May parliamentary and first round presidential elections, HDP Co-chair Pervin Buldan said, “The results we got did not satisfy any of us, we are aware of this. However, in the face of all this, we set out to win these elections with the awareness and reality of the importance of the proof of our resistance, our struggle and our existence in the face of those who deny us, and of the representation of Kurdish politics in parliament.”
Regarding the incumbent president, Buldan asserted, “Erdoğan’s re-election will mean the beginning of a new disaster for Kurds. We have to make an important choice between policies of light and darkness, democracy and fascism, peace and war… of course, we have to choose in favour of light, peace, ease, and democracy.”
Buldan called on the people of Diyarbakır and its environs to make a decisive choice in the second round of the presidential election. She emphasised the need to vote against oppression and the denial of rights, stating, “Our preference will be for the freedom of thousands of people who are in prison, and against the trustee mentality, unlawfulness and all injustices.”
