HDP's presidential candidate Demirtaş assures no negotiations with AKP
Selahattin DemirtaÅ, the presidential candidate of the Kurdish and leftist bloc, the Peoplesâ Democratic Partyâs (HDP), has dismissed claims that he will negotiate with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to back Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄan in the second round of the polls.
âFirst of all, we will be in the second round. There will be two candidates and one of them will be us. So there is no point to have such concerns regarding negotiations,â DemirtaÅ ambitiously said during a July 8 interview on private broadcaster CNN Türk.
âI am the antidote that can prevent ErdoÄan from creating a totalitarian and authoritarian regime in the presidency,â he added.
DemirtaÅ stressed that he would campaign on âunnegotiable principlesâ and would not only focus on gains for the Kurds.
âWe have a principle that we will continue to defend. This is that [the election] is not about choosing a president, but the dream of creating a free society. We will not use this dream as an item of negotiations behind closed doors,â he said.
The HDP co-leader also announced that he would unveil a campaign manifesto on July 15. âIn it, we will state what kind of Turkey we dream about,â DemirtaÅ said, also vowing to create two âadvising councilsâ - one composed of women and the other of disabled people - if elected.
âKurdish problem will be solvedâ
As the representative of the main Kurdish bloc, DemirtaÅ promised to accelerate the ongoing peace process and solve the Kurdish issue under his presidency. The process is currently one of the main arguments put forward by ErdoÄan to garner Kurdish votes, considered to be...
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