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| The Grand Turk |
| Turkey's Kurdish Party Vows to be 'Sultan' Erdogan's Nightmare |
| 2015-04-22 |
| [AnNahar] ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's main Kurdish party on Tuesday launched their manifesto for June 7 legislative polls, saying it would be a "sultan's nightmare" for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... "This manifesto will be the sultan's nightmare but a dream for all the people of Turkey," Figen Yuksekdag, co-chair of the the People's Democratic Party (HDP), told party supporters, as she announced the party manifesto with co-leader Selahattin Demirtas. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkey for over a decade, first as premier and now as president, is commonly referred to as the "Sultan" after the country's former Ottoman rulers which he admires. The HDP is only ranked in fourth place in the polls, but will play a key role in an election where the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is aiming for a big enough majority to be able to push through constitutional changes giving the president full executive powers. The HDP hopes to clear the controversial 10 percent barrier for full representation in the 550-seat parliament. If that happens, then the AKP may find it hard to reach two-thirds of the seats it needs to be able to force through changes to the constitution. "There will never be a presidential system in our constitution," Yuksekdag said. "We did not change our minds, friends, and we will never do so." Seeking to draw a distinction with the often dry two rival opposition parties, the party's election material is emblazoned with bright colors and the jaunty slogan "We are going to the Meclis (parliament)". Uniquely among Turkey's parties, it has has put women's, worker and gay rights at the centre of its election campaign. Half of all its candidates are women, and it has male and female co-leaders. The party's male co-chair Selahattin Demirtas, who greeted the audience in the long-suppressed Kurdish language, called for a "new beginning". "We can build a brand-new Turkey only through a radical transformation," he said. Ironically, part of the reason the HDP is even involved is Erdogan's initiative to give greater rights to Kurds, Turkey's biggest ethnic minority. But the HDP has in recent weeks bitterly accused the government of dragging its feet in the grinding of the peace processor ending a conflict with armed separatists that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. "No matter what happens we will defend a solution without weapons and democratic policies," the HDP said in its election manifesto. As well as courting the Kurdish vote, the HDP is seeking to broaden its appeal to leftist secular Turks attracted by its leftist and pro-women and pro-gay message. "We are telling the homophobic mindset which does not recognize any color than black and white... to embrace their colors," Yuksekdag said. It promised to implement a system of male and female co-prime ministers, as is done in the party leadership. The party also pledged to remove militarist and chauvinistic language from school books, and create a multi-lingual education system. Promoting a secular agenda, it pledges to abolish the government directorate of religious affairs and mandatory religion courses. Casting itself as the party of the environment, it pledges to reduce defense expenditure, stop nuclear energy investments, and not allow shopping malls in city center. Party leaders also promised to apologize to the Armenians and other peoples on behalf of the Turkish state for "genocides and massacres committed in history." Demirtas, who drew the ire for recognizing the 1915 killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I years as genocide, promised to "unconditionally reopen the Turkish-Armenian border." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #3 The good news for Ankara is that the Kurds feels the same way about Turkey rival SHIA IRAN despite the latters help agz the ISIS + Al-Nusra. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-04-22 23:01 |
| #2 They're all just a buncha of goddarn commies. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-04-22 09:54 |
| #1 An odd coalition, Kurds and leftists of the variety who vote Green in Australia. Might work. What do I know. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2015-04-22 01:34 |