PKK leader Cemil Bayık said in a recent interview with the PKK-affiliated Yeni Özgür Politika daily that the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) should form an alliance against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The statement comes as CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu recently signalled that he might consider forming an alliance in the 2019 presidential elections.
Stressing that parties against President Erdoğan can come to a mutual understanding to defeat the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Cemal Bayık said that they should form an alliance against Erdoğan, adding that the CHP, HDP and other groups should act jointly.
The PKK leader called on the CHP to join the "anti-fascist front," saying that, "If the CHP is sincere in its struggle against the AK Party, it should act jointly against fascism with full force."
He added that he approved of the CHP's "Justice March," saying that the CHP's march played an important role in efforts to halt the AK Party.
Meanwhile, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu signaled that he would form an alliance with other parties. In response to a question about whether he would consider forming an alliance with the HDP or Meral Akşener's party for the 2019 presidential elections, Kılıçdaroğlu said that he might consider.
"We will firstly agree on the main subjects such as the democratic parliamentary system, judicial independence, freedom of expression, equality of women and men and freedom of conscience and religion. If we can agree on those subjects, it wouldn't be a problem," he stated.
Speaking to the British daily The Times, four days before the deadly car bomb attack on Feb. 17, 2016 that killed 35 civilians in the Turkish capital Ankara, Cemil Bayık, had said that their main aim was to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party.
CHP Chairman Kılıçdaroğlu in July said in an interview with The Times, that he is determined "to drag Erdoğan down from his palace."
Previously, HDP Deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder called on the main opposition party to form a joint bloc in the presidential election in 2019. Speaking to Dihaber news, Önder said that the new bloc should have an "opinion consensus" and aim to form the government in the 2019 elections.
"Forming a bloc with the HDP, the CHP and many other partners is a must. If it is achieved, it shouldn't be an ‘alliance of slogans' rather an ‘alliance of action and joint program,'" he said.