FOUNDED in 2012 the HDP, the leading left-wing political party in Turkey, held its fifth congress in a large indoor sports hall on July 3 in Ankara, attended by an estimated 10,000 people, many of then young people, with over 100 international guests from Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Tunisia, Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Sweden, Lebanon, Greece, Egypt, Italy, Catalonia, Kuwait, Algeria, Portugal, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden.

Representatives from the European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Group attended — the HDP is an associate  member of Party of European Socialists (PES) and a consultative member of the Socialist International.
 
The HDP’s political focus is based on radical democracy, feminism, LGBT rights, youth rights and egalitarianism. Since the 2015 elections in Turkey the right-wing, ultra-nationalist AKP led by current President Tayyip Erdogan has launched massive attacks on the party, attempting to close it down and seize its assets before the next election in 12 months’ time.
 
Well over 5,000 HDP activists and supporters including politicians, trade unionists, lawyers, journalists and HDP staff have been arrested or jailed.
 
Under Erdogan Turkey is facing big economic problems with inflation running at 78 per cent and a majority of young Turkish people (12 per cent of all voters — who pollsters predict will be decisive in a very tight election race) say they want change to improve job opportunities, education and free speech.
 
The congress hall was decorated with banners that read “the democracy alliance will win,” “the free press cannot be silenced,” “peace and resolution, not war and isolation,” “not a monistic regime but a democratic republic,” “democratic resolution of the Kurdish question” and “not hunger and poverty — but equal distribution.”
 
The keynote speeches were given by HDP co-chairs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar (the party stipulates that leadership must be shared by a woman and a man).
 
Pervin Buldan was clear that she anticipated the HDP will be power-brokers in an expected coalition.

“Upcoming elections will not be about selecting the president or prime minister. It will be about building a new democratic and egalitarian order in Turkey. The HDP is the main driving force behind these elections and the process going forward,” she told delegates.
 
“We will not be a bridge in any political calculation made just to cross the river. We say there is another way. That way is the third way that HDP resolutely defends. And this is the democratic alliance that we will move forward with all the democratic forces and which we call Turkey’s democracy alliance. The will of the Kurdish people is in favour of co-existence, and through the democratic alliances it forms with the peoples it lives side by side.”
 
Co-chair Mithat Sancar told delegates: “It frightens and worries them, the fact that we are the strongest alternative to their authoritarian regime. That’s why they attack us with all their strength. They think they’re going to destroy us. But they will never succeed.

“We warn the AKP government: do not play games on the isolation of [jailed PKK leader] Abdullah Ocalan, do not use such a sensitive issue for your power goals. Do not speak on behalf of Imrali [the island where Ocalan is held], do not mislead the public or create false agendas.

“Let the public know what Ocalan thinks. Our stance on the presidential election is clear. We are open to negotiations and the idea of a joint candidate, in case of transparent negotiations in front of the public.”
 
For more information on the HDP and its campaigns follow @HDP_Europe on Twitter.