HDP and YSP call to vote for Kilicdaroglu: ‘We will vote in full force’

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chairs and the Green Left Party (YSP) spokespersons announced in a press statement that they will vote for Kilicdaroglu in the presidential elections on May 28. “We will go to the polls in full force and together we will change the one-man regime,” HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan said in her statement at the HDP headquarters. The HDP had announced that they would make a ‘situation assessment’ together with the YSP after Presidential Candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu and Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdag’s statements on trustees in the joint protocol. After the meeting, HDP and YSP declared that they will not back down from their stance under any circumstances and that they will change the one-man regime.

HDP Co-Chairs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar and YSP Co-spokespersons Cigdem Kilicgün and İbrahim Akin addressed various issues such as the presidential candidate Erdogan, the refugee problem and the trustees. Stating that a totalitarian, absolute power-oriented mentality has built a system dependent on a single man for 21 years, Buldan said that for this reason, the May 28 elections will be a referendum between those in favor of democratic change in the system and those who want to maintain the monist regime. Buldan responded to the trustee issue included in the joint protocol of Kilicdaroglu and Özdag with these words: “We insistently emphasize that those who pawn the political will of the Kurds through trustees are also those who pawn the rights and freedoms of all the peoples of Turkey. It is not in the interest of society that the Kurdish question remains unsolved. The republic will not be able to integrate with democracy until this game of non-solution is ended.”

The HDP considers it wrong to turn migrants or refugees into a material for political interests and emphasized that this approach is not humane. The following remarks were made on this issue: “The responsibility for this situation lies not with the victimized migrants or refugees, but directly with the government that insists on war policies and instrumentalizes refugees for economic and political gain. The refugee and migrant problem can only be solved by waging a strong peace struggle against war policies.” The HDP and the YSP declared that they only vouch for the people’s struggle for equality, justice, rights, law and freedom: “The only criterion, our unwavering commitment is to these values. We reiterate our promise that we will not retreat from this stance under any circumstances.”

The representatives said that the biggest obstacle will be Erdogan and the regime itself, that Erdogan is never an option for both parties and that the only option is to change Erdogan and the power he represents. In the statement calling the people to vote for Kilicdaroglu in the elections, the following words were also included: “It is extremely important and a priority for us to recognize the will of the Kurdish people and the Turkish society as a whole and their expectation and longing for democracy, right, justice, equality and freedom. Our own strength and the desire of millions for change is our greatest source of inspiration. We will persistently and stubbornly continue our struggle, we will never give up. We will definitely win.”