Turkey’s biggest pro-Kurdish party said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main ally could potentially recapture a majority in the country’s parliament if a court goes ahead with a ban on the group.
(Bloomberg) —
Turkey’s biggest pro-Kurdish party said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main ally could potentially recapture a majority in the country’s parliament if a court goes ahead with a ban on the group.
The Constitutional Court is considering whether to disband the People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, over separatism charges related to alleged ties to autonomy-seeking Kurdish militants.
Should it make such a call after a deadline to field candidates in this year’s elections, that would enable Erdogan’s party to take over parliamentary seats that would otherwise be allocated to the pro-Kurdish party lawmakers, according to the HDP’s Garo Paylan.
While Kurdish voters could potentially support another political group, Erdogan’s governing AK Party is likely to benefit from such a decision.
The court has already frozen about $29 million of government funding earmarked for the HDP, depleting the resources needed to fight the election. The party is on track to win as much as 11% of the vote, while support for the AKP is expected to exceed 41%, according to Ankara-based polling company Optimar.
While Turkey’s government has denied allegations that the case against the pro-Kurdish party is politically motivated, Erdogan’s critics have accused the president of using his clout over the country’s judiciary to eliminate political foes and extend his record 20-year rule. A recent court ruling all but derailed the presidential challenge of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a popular political figure, after he was convicted of insulting election officials.
“For the government in Turkey, every means is legitimate to retaining power,” said HDP lawmaker Paylan. “In many provinces where the HDP has a strong base, the ruling AK Party is trailing just behind and, if the court shuts down the HDP, then Erdogan’s party could grab seats.”
Erdogan is battling to hold on to the presidency he won with 53% of the vote in 2018 while fighting the parliamentary elections. The contest comes as millions of voters contend with the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, threatening his party’s popularity.
Turkish prosecutors want to disband the HDP and bar more than 450 of its members from politics due to their alleged ties to the autonomy-seeking militants. The HDP says it backs cultural and legal recognition of the country’s Kurdish minority but denies it’s influenced by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, as well as Turkey.
The HDP is predominant in the country’s largely Kurdish southeast, and helped Turkey’s main opposition party win mayoral races in the capital, Ankara, and commercial hub Istanbul.
The AK Party won 2018 parliamentary elections with 42.5% of the vote.
–With assistance from Selcan Hacaoglu.
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