Erdogan’s rival upsets pro-Kurdish party

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Turkish opposition’s presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Wednesday angered the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) after he signed a protocol that supports the replacement of elected mayors charged with terror ties with state administrators. This development could decrease his chance of winning if the HDP stops supporting him.  

Six opposition parties fielded Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) as their presidential candidate in a bid to unseat the incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the May 14 elections. He also convinced the HDP to support him and gained most of the votes in many Kurdish provinces. His promise to end the government’s removal of elected mayors and release political prisoners attracted the pro-Kurdish party’s attention. 

However, after failing to beat Erdogan in the first round, Kilicdaroglu started wooing the nationalist Turks who are seen as the kingmakers of the runoff, scheduled for May 28. After days of discussions, he signed a seven-item protocol with the far-right Victory Party on Wednesday, which reads that the next government will continue removing elected mayors and replace them with trustees if they face terror-related charges.  

The HDP, as the number one victim of this policy, late Wednesday slammed the protocol in a statement, saying it will announce its position on the second round of the presidential vote on Thursday. The party has already said it would continue supporting Kilicdaroglu, so the party could either end its endorsement to the opposition candidate or boycott the election on Sunday. The HDP is not expected to endorse Erdogan due to his successive governments’ crackdowns on the party offices. 

The item which mentions the issue of mayors “is contrary to the universal democratic principles,” said the party in the statement. “Our attitude and criticism are clear and open. Trustee practices are not only the problem of Diyarbakir but also of Istanbul and all of us as a whole.”  

The party also said that it is aware of “games played and traps set” regarding the runoff without elaborating. 

“We continue our evaluations which we started today with the components and boards of our parties. As a result of our evaluations, we will share our final decision and stance regarding the elections with our people tomorrow,” concluded the statement.

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Most of the HDP mayors have been removed from their positions and some of them have been jailed for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since 2019. The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but it is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara. 

Thousands of HDP officials, members and supporters - including former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag - have been jailed for alleged PKK ties. 

HDP, which fielded candidates under the newly-established sister party, Green Left Party, for the parliamentary election due a closure case against the party. The pro-Kurdish party and its leftist allies all received over eight percent of the votes.

Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party and its allies have maintained most of the seats in the parliament but they might not be able to fight a president with executive powers if Kilicdaroglu wins. 

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