Its support for the opposition was tacit, it is now official: the pro-Kurdish left-wing HDP and its allies called on Friday 28 April to vote for Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential election on 14 May.
"For this historic election, we call (...) the peoples of Turkey to vote for Kemal Kilicdaroglu," the Labour and Freedom alliance dominated by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Turkey's third largest political force, said in a statement.
The HDP had already given tacit support to Kemal Kilicdaroglu at the end of March, announcing that it would not present a presidential candidate.
"Our objectives coincide (...). That's why we decided to support Kilicdaroglu," HDP co-chairman Mithat Sancar said in an interview published Friday by the daily Sözcü.
The HDP's goal is to allow the opposition to win in the first round, said Mithat Sancar. "To get the country out of this darkness, we need to get rid of this one-man regime," he added.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, at the head of an alliance of six opposition parties, is in a good position against President Erdogan by most polls.
The HDP, whose 2018 presidential candidate finished third with 8.4% of the votes cast, is considered the kingmaker of the presidential election.
The HDP is accused by the Turkish government of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed group described as "terrorist" by Ankara and its Western allies.
Selahattin Demirtas, its figurehead, has himself been imprisoned since the end of 2016 for "terrorist propaganda".
Under threat of ban, the pro-Kurdish party will put forward candidates in the general elections - also organised on 14th May - under the banner of the Green Left Party.
With AFP
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