By Alla Shaly
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A top official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two main Kurdish parties in Iraq, says the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party(HDP) in Turkey should join the coalition government led by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Mala Bakhtiar, a senior leader within PUK and an outspoken supporter of HDP in the Kurdistan region, told Rudaw his party has urged the HDP to enter government negotiations.
The HDP is now the first Kurdish party to enter the parliament in Turkey, after passing the 10 percent threshold and winning 61 of the 550-seat large assembly in snap elections last Sunday.
In the inconclusive June elections that preceded, the HDP had received over 13 percent of the votes, or 80 seats.
New elections were announced since the AKP was unable to form a cabinet in 45 days with the HDP refusing to back the government formation.
“We think the future of North Kurdistan (in Turkey) depends on development in all of Turkey. If the democratic movement progresses in Turkey, I think the North (Turkish Kurdistan) will obtain its democratic rights,” Bakhtiar told Rudaw after a public seminar in the Sweidsh capital of Stockholm, where he is on a week-long visit.
The HDP is believed to have the backing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its public support inside Turkey. Bakhtiar said the PUK has also urged the PKK to support the HDP joining the government.
With over 50 percent of the votes, the AKP could easily form a majority government, but it still needs the support of other parties to pass the crucial amendments to the country’s constitution later next year.
Daily clashes have been reported between PKK guerrillas and the Turkish army in and outside Kurdish southeast, after a two-year ceasefire was broken in July. Turkish airstrikes have targeted PKK bases also inside the Kurdistan region in Iraq.
Bakhtiar said both AKP and HDP are “needed” for the democratic process in the country. He said they have conveyed this message also to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
”One of fine features of AKP is the fact that it abandoned the chauvinist Kemalist philosophy in Turkey,” Bakhtiar said. “Also the HDP is no ultra-nationalist Kurdish party, it is the peoples’ democratic force in Turkey and both can effectively contribute to the democratic process.”
Bakhtiar also said the PKK and its affiliated supporters in Syria should normalize relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
“Both PKK and PYD have to resolve their differences with the KRG and the KDP. I think they realize that now morethan ever,” Bakhtiar said.
