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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish jailed politician Selahattin Demirtas has decided not to run for the upcoming Turkish presidential election due to his legal status, announced the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on Friday.
Demirtas, former co-chair of the HDP, has been imprisoned by Turkish authorities since November 2016 for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. He faces up to 142 years in jail on terror charges.
Ankara has listed the PKK a terrorist organization, and many Turkish officials accuse the HDP of being the political wing of the group - a claim denied by the pro-Kurdish party.
Demirtas ran from prison for the previous Turkish presidential election in 2018, winning 8.4 percent of the votes.
The HDP said in a statement on Friday that a delegation from the party visited Demirtas in Edirne prison the previous day regarding the possibility of his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election in mid-May.
“During the meeting, Demirtas thanked the delegation and stated that his legal status was not suitable for candidacy, and emphasised that he would be a supporter of the party's efforts on this issue,” read the statement.
He added that he would support any candidate chosen by his party, according to the statement.
The HDP and a number of Turkey’s leftist parties have announced Labor and Freedom Alliance for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. This came after an alliance of six Turkish opposition parties refused to invite the HDP to the alliance.
Turkey’s upcoming elections are expected to take place on May 14, determining the two-decade rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party.
A Turkish prosecutor has filed a complaint against the HDP, demanding its closure. The Turkish Constitutional Court recently blocked the party’s state funds for the electoral campaign. A final decision regarding both cases is yet to be made.
HDP’s request for the postponement of its closure case to after elections was rejected by the top court on Thursday. Hours later, the party launched a fundraising campaign on social media with the hashtag #HazinemizHalkımız (Our treasure is our people).
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