The six-party opposition coalition has been led from the beginning by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late Wednesday.
In an interview on ATV's A Haber in the capital Ankara, Erdoğan said, "In fact, the CHP and HDP have been leading this table right from the beginning, while others are mere supporters."
"PKK members say that this strange table offers them hope. Fugitive (Gülenist Terror Group) FETÖ members are calculating that they can return to the country thanks to this twilight generation table," Erdoğan said, referring to the PKK terrorist organization implying that it will support the candidacy of CHP Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Türkiye in May.
Erdoğan reiterated that the second largest party in the opposition coalition, the Good Party (IP), voiced its discomfort with cooperating with the HDP and that even the spokesperson resigned.
"Terrorist heads and their extension in Parliament are the extensions of this terrorist organization. Therefore, can we say, ‘This is not a terrorist organization?’ Right now, the head of the main opposition is trying to secure their place in Parliament by forming partnerships with them. Our people will not allow this," Erdoğan underlined.
The HDP has given Kılıçdaroğlu its tacit support recently, announcing it would not field a presidential candidate for the May elections.
"We will not field a candidate in the presidential elections," Pervin Buldan, HDP's co-chair, told reporters.
Winning over 10% of the vote in the past three national elections, the HDP is widely seen as a kingmaker in the tight race, despite the increasing threat of being banned from Türkiye’s politics.
The HDP is generally blamed for becoming the focal point of actions violating the Turkish state’s "unbreakable unity" and having an "active role in providing recruits to the PKK."
Among the past remarks of party leaders proving the close ties to the terrorist group is a statement from Buldan, who confessed to previous contact and communication between the party and the terrorist group and praised jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and his role in the foundation of the party by rejecting the fact that the PKK is a terrorist group.
Moreover, the HDP has often drawn ire for transferring taxpayers' money and funds to the PKK. HDP mayors and local officials have been found guilty of misusing funds to support the PKK and provide jobs to the terrorist group’s sympathizers.