EH BILDU Expresses its Support for the HDP for the Elections in Turkey

The basque Party Euskal Herria BILDU made a decloration on the HDP:
“On June 7th legislative elections will be held in Turkey. Elections in which different challenges are present, in the social as well as the political order, but all of them are connected, in one way or another, to the demand of democracy. These elections have a special relevance, for the regional situation, marked by the violent onslaught of ISIS, but also for the Kurdish question.
The Turkish electoral system makes it difficult for the political initiatives of Kurdish candidates, by imposing a barrier of 10% to the parties who aspire to have representation in the Parliament. That has forced Kurds to use the formula of independent candidates, not running as a party, reducing the visibility of the Kurdish national demand.
On this occasion, however, the HDP coalitions (People’s Democratic Party) has assumed the challenge to participate as a party. The government of Ankara and the party of its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have responded to this challenge in their habitual way: displaying a discourse of criminalization and giving support with their attitude to other types of attacks.
In fact, the HDP, who has displayed in campaign a message of support for a negotiated solution in Kurdistan, embellishing proposals in the matter of gender parity and social justice, have seen their electoral headquarters attacked in Adana and in Mersin in full campaign.
EH Bildu expresses their rejection of these attacks and on the eve of these important elections we wish to send our solidarity to the people of Kurdistan and to express our explicit support to the HDP.
We hope that the coalition achieves, in spite of the obstacles, to enter the Turkish parliament, which would serve to give more strength to the Kurdish cause facing the policies of Ankara, which doesn’t combat against the forces of Islamic State which threatens the Kurdish people and especially the autonomous territory of Rojava.
Equally, the democratic programme that the HDP leads to link together the demands for freedom and social justice expressed in the popular protests in Gezi Park and the Taksim Plaza, and can serve as a counterweight to an AKP and an Erdogan who propose a constitutional reform destined to reinforce the presidency, turning their back on the true priorities of society”.