Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP names jailed leader as presidential candidate
Turkey’s top Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas, the only person who could deprive President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of his ambition, is officially joining the presidential race from his prison cell.
Turkey’s top Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas, one of the few names who proved he could challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s charisma, has decided to run in the June 24 presidential elections, seemingly undaunted by the bars of his prison cell.
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) announced Demirtas’ candidacy May 4. “Our candidate is Selahattin Demirtas, who is being held as a hostage in Edirne Prison,” HDP Co-chair Pervin Buldan was quoted by Hurriyet Daily news as saying in a statement.
Turkey’s westernmost province of Edirne is the farthest point from the predominantly Kurdish southeast where Demirtas’ main constituency is located.
Demirtas ran against Erdogan in the August 2014 presidential race, winning 9.8% of the votes, and, more importantly, raising hopes that for the next parliamentary elections a pro-Kurdish party might pass the 10% national election threshold for the first time in history.
