Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Veli Ağbaba criticized some CHP deputies for working in favor of the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) before the June 7, 2015 general elections.
"Some of our friends from the CHP worked for the HDP after they were not included in the deputy candidates list for the elections," Ağbaba said in a speech at the Congress and Culture Center in eastern Malatya province. The CHP deputy said some of party members even told him that they would not cast their votes for the CHP and instead would vote for the HDP in the elections. "They had said the CHP was already guaranteed one deputy [in Malatya] so they can cast our votes for the HDP. Some of delegates, who are still in duty, were among those. I don't want to reveal them. We even had out meetings in hotels in order to discuss how we could curb the HDP winds inside us," he said, adding that the party should be self-critical. The CHP occasionally came under criticism for its cooperation with the HDP, not just from other parties, but from its own deputies and party members.
Former CHP Vice Chairman Murat Özçelik was criticized by former CHP head and the party's Antalya deputy, Deniz Baykal, for voting for the HDP in the 2015 elections. Baykal also accused some CHP deputies of being pro-HDP, and accusing CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of poor management.
In August 2017, the CHP extended its support to the HDP. Some CHP deputies visited HDP counterparts in Istanbul where they had been holding "Watch for Justice" as part of events across the country, calling for a return to the reconciliation process.
It was not the first time that the two parties have joined forces against the government. On May 15, 2016, then-HDP spokesman İdris Baluken urged CHP deputies to cooperate in drafting a bill that called for a case regarding the lifting of parliamentary immunities to be referred to the Constitutional Court.
In April 2016, former CHP deputy chairwoman and spokeswoman Selin Sayek Böke called on the HDP to work together in Parliament, saying: "The CHP and HDP need to form a parliamentary alliance against the ruling Justice and Development Party [AK Party]." CHP members have sent signals about forming an alliance with the HDP. Two days after the June 7 elections, CHP Deputy Şafak Pavey famously congratulated HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş in front of members of the press, saying: "We shook things up quite well."
