Erdoğan calls on Kılıçdaroğlu to reveal the details of a deal with the HDP

On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on his rival in the presidential elections, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, to reveal details of his agreement with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Erdoğan said in a TV interview with Turkish aHaber channel, “One of the legislators of the Socialist Party, which is linked to the PKK, announced that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu signed an agreement with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), and we understand the content of this agreement from the statements of the members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party”.

The Turkish president continued, explaining that Kılıçdaroğlu’s deal with the Peoples’ Democratic Party includes pledges, including the release of Selahattin Demirtaş, the co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, imprisoned since 2016, and facing several trials, including his main case, in which he could be sentenced to 142 years in prison, if convicted of terrorism charges.

Erdoğan continued, “Kılıçdaroğlu said, ‘Vote for me in the elections if you want to release Selahattin Demirtaş from prison, what kind of law is that?”

On June 21, the Turkish Constitutional Court approved an indictment submitted by the Public Prosecutor calling for the dissolution of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, one of the most prominent opposition parties in the country, on the basis that it is linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The indictment, submitted by the Turkish public prosecutor to the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest authority, calls for the HDP to be dissolved and hundreds of party officials to be banned from politics.

Turkish government accuses the Peoples’ Democratic Party of “associating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is classified as a terrorist organization” in the country, while the party denies the charges against it, stressing that the entire case is a political process.

The second round of the Turkish presidential elections between Kılıçdaroğlu and Erdoğan is scheduled to start on Sunday, May 28, after both candidates failed to win more than 50% of the vote during the first round.