Selahattin Demirtaş, the jailed co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) now facing closure over its links to the PKK terrorist group, voiced his support for the opposition bloc’s candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for the upcoming Turkish elections.
In a message posted by his lawyers on his social media account, Demirtaş – a symbolic name for the HDP, which will compete in the elections under its proxy Green Left Party (YSP) – wished well to Kılıçdaroğlu. “I will vote for you, Mr. President Kılıçdaroğlu,” the message said. The message was accompanied by a photo of Kılıçdaroğlu and an emblem of the Presidency. “I believe you will end the divide and maintain social peace,” Demirtaş said, using the rhetoric of his party that perpetuates a discourse claiming the PKK is one of the “fighting sides” in a lengthy conflict. Demirtaş also called on his supporters to vote for the YSP in the parliamentary elections and for Kılıçdaroğlu for the Presidency. The HDP was quiet about their support for Kılıçdaroğlu at first before the release of a written statement in support of Kılıçdaroğlu in the elections, weeks after the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) met with the co-chairs of the HDP.
Demirtaş was incarcerated in 2016 but was nominated for the Presidency in the 2018 elections. He lost to incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He was indicted in multiple lawsuits against the HDP and the PKK for spreading propaganda of the terrorist group and inciting the notorious 2014 riots where the PKK supporters killed dozens across Türkiye.
