Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)

The Peoples’ Democratic Party began in 2012 as the representative political party of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress, a group of left-leaning, pro-Kurdish social groups and political movements, many of which had been suppressed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). As a result of a string of shutdowns of pro-Kurdish parties starting in 1991, the original HDP merged with the Turkish Labour Party, Socialist Democracy Party, the Peace & Democracy Party, the Socialist Party of the Oppressed, the Green Left Party, and several smaller groups and trade unions. The HDP reflected these groups’ desire to enter parliament, for which a party must pass a threshold of 10% of the popular vote, a measure put in place to weaken opposition. The party has seen increased persecution by Turkish authorities since the failed coup attempt in 2016, and despite the denouncement of the coup, the HDP have been subjected to police brutality, fraudulent accusations of terrorism, and for some, such as former party co-chair and 2018 presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaş, unlawful imprisonment. The HDP, in the 2018 Turkish elections qualified for the Turkish parliament, receiving 11% of the popular vote. The political platform of the HDP is decidedly progressive, advocating for open democracy, social welfare, gender equality, and constitutionally enshrined rights for ethnic and religious minorities such as Kurds, Armenians, and Greeks.