Main Pro-Kurdish Party Announces Backing For Kilicdaroglu-SKAI

Greece's SKAI reports that the main pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) has announced its support for main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu ahead of the 14 May election. The HDP had already declared that it would not put forward its own presidential candidate, but an explicit endorsement of the Nation Alliance candidate Kilicdaroglu comes as a blow to the prospect of incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan retaining office.

• HDP co-chair Mithat Sanjar is quoted as saying "We see these elections as the most critical elections in the history of Turkey. We have two strategic goals.The first objective is to end the one-man regime. The second goal is to create the most influential force in democratic transformation. The way to end a person's status is through the presidential election. On the one hand is the People's Alliance candidate who wants to perpetuate the Erdogan regime. On the other hand, there is Kilicdaroglu, who has promised to change the regime. Our goals coincide with those of Kilicdaroglu, at the point of ending their one-man regime.That's why we decided to support Kilicdaroglu."
• In the 2018 presidential election, the HDP's presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaş came in third with 8.4% of the vote. If a substantial section of these 4.2mn voters shift their backing to Kilicdaroglu it could prove enough to ensure Erdogan's ouster.
• However, there is the prospect that by gaining the backing of a party representing the Kurdish minority - which is distrusted by a not insignificant portion of ethnic Turks - that wavering voters could opt for Erdogan as the 'safe choice'.