Party spokesperson Aysegul Dogan announced the change during a press conference, saying that the change came after the country’s Supreme Court objected the old acronym HEDEP on the grounds that it resembles the People’s Democracy Party (HADEP) - another pro-Kurdish party that was founded in 1994 and was then dissolved by the Constitutional Court nine years later for its alleged ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“The reason [of the objection] is clear and obvious, we are heading towards an election, it is to put a new judicial obstacle on our path ahead of the local elections,” Dogan said, labeling the Supreme Court’s notice as “another illegal campaign” against the party.
HEDEP, now DEM Party, evolved out of the Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP). In the most recent general election, held in May, HDP fielded candidates under the umbrella of the new Green Left Party because it was facing the threat of closure. In October, the Green Left Party changed its name to HEDEP.
While changing the acronym, the party will maintain its name.
The Supreme Court also challenged several articles in the party’s bylaws.
“Changes were only limited to the articles that were objected by the Supreme Court, apart from this there is no change in our bylaws,” Dogan said, adding that the changes were submitted to the Supreme court, pending its approval.
On May 14, Turkey held parliamentary and presidential elections in which the HDP secured 61 of the 600 seats in the legislature, six fewer than their result in the 2018 poll. The party was criticized for endorsing opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the presidential election and not running a purely pro-Kurdish campaign. Following their poor performance, the party opted to hold a congress.
In June, party co-chairs Mithat Sancar and Pervin Buldan stepped down and last month, Tulay Hatimogullari and Tuncer Bakirhan were elected co-chairs of the DEM Party.
