Kurdish parties in Turkey form alliance for local elections

The parties will enter the local elections under the auspices of the HDP, which is the most prominent pro-Kurdish party in Turkey.

According to Bianet, the organizations that will take part in the alliance are “the Kurdistan Islamic Movement (AZADÎ), the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the Revolutionary Democratic Kurdish Association (DDKD), the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the Human and Freedom Party (PİA), the Partîya Komunîsta Kurdistan (KKP), the Platforma Demokrata Kurdistan (PDK) and the Partîya Demokrata Kurdistanê -Türkiye (PDK-T).”

The new alliance released a statement outlining its reasoning for banding together, saying that doing so was necessary in order to combat the Turkish government’s actions against Kurdish parities and politicians, NRT reported.

Moreover, they plan to focus on local politics as a way to overcome the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) dominance at the presidential and parliamentary levels.

Imprisoned former HDP co-Chair Selahattin Demirtas released a statement saying, “I congratulate all my friends who have contributed to this work, which I believe will lay the ground for stronger and more successful alliances.”

“With the belief that this alliance will be beneficial, I am making a call to our whole people, young and old alike, to close ranks around this alliance,” he added.

In November, Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said that it would support President Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP candidates in local elections in three key cities, carrying over an alliance from the presidential election in June, according to Reuters.

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