Kurdish nationalists suffer partial setback in elections

Comparatively poor performance

Observers have noted a decline in the popularity of Kurdish nationalist political parties in favour of their conservative Kurdish counterparts aligned with the ruling authority on various levels.

The Green Left Party — acting as an alternative to the threatened HDP — saw its vote share drop. It obtained only 8.8 percent of the total votes which is significantly lower than the 11.7 percent it secured in the previous parliamentary elections of 2018.

Furthermore, the alternative party received a total of approximately 4.75 million votes, indicating a decline of about 1.1 million votes compared to the previous elections.

While the party won in two provinces considered to be centres of conservative Kurdish forces affiliated with the ruling party — Kars and Bitlis — it actually lost around 1.25 million votes compared to the previous election.

Additionally, the Kurdish party failed to capitalise on its longstanding political propaganda, which accuses the AKP of suppressing Kurdish national aspirations, persecuting Kurdish politicians, public figures, intellectuals, and media professionals, as well as discouraging economic development in Kurdish regions.

AKP boosts performance in Kurdish areas

Meanwhile, the AKP managed to secure nearly 40 percent of the total votes in the 15 Kurdish-majority provinces. It now holds approximately 45 parliamentary seats representing the Kurdish population.

On its part, the Free Cause Party (Huda Par) performed well in Kurdish areas, despite being accused of carrying out hundreds of assassinations against Kurdish nationalist activists and politicians on behalf of the ruling parties since the 1990s.

It secured approximately 200,000 votes and two seats in the Turkish parliament for the first time in its political history.

Formerly known as the Kurdish Hezbollah, the Free Cause Party (Huda Par) is considered a radical Islamic party. Despite their shared ethnicity, the party opposes the Kurdish national movement and the HDP and, instead, has allied with the AKP.

Repression campaign

The poor performance of the Kurdish nationalist parties in this election can be attributed to several factors.

A significant factor was the sustained repression campaign conducted by the ruling party over the past five years which saw the targeting of Kurdish elites and activists across the political, economic and social spectrum. Members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were specifically targeted.

These campaigns have resulted in fatigue, poor performance, and weak organisation within the HDP, depriving it of its ability to mobilise politically and gain popularity in Kurdish circles.

According to the HDP, over 20,000 of its members have been arrested in the past five years. These members constitute the basic organisational structure of the party and are vital in various sectors such as politics, media, services, culture, and organisation.

The majority of them are in prison on obscure charges ranging from insulting national symbols to affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The judicial process is intentionally slow, in order to keep them in detention as long as possible and undermine the organisational and political capabilities of the HDP.

This has severely eroded the HDP's organisational structure. The party has lost key members, including its leader Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been detained for seven years on similar grounds.

Elected HDP mayors in several Kurdish areas have been removed from their positions and replaced by individuals from the ruling party. Additionally, over 50,000 HDP members have been dismissed from public offices for political reasons. These actions have weakened the presence and effectiveness of the Kurdish party.

Opposition failure to forge a relationship with the HDP

The second reason for the decline in the pro-Kurdish party's popularity can be attributed to Turkish opposition's failure to establish a political relationship with the HDP and provide a comprehensive plan for resolving the Kurdish issue in Turkey.

No concrete proposals were put forward by the opposition to alleviate security, economic, and cultural pressures on Kurdish-majority areas.

On its part, the Good Party — the second-largest party within the opposition alliance — outright rejected any agreement with the HDP, accusing it of aligning with the PKK. Meanwhile, other parties in the alliance did not speak up against GP's hard-line stance.

Moreover, although presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu held political meetings with the HDP and pledged to address the Kurdish issue within the parliament, he did not outline concrete steps to this end.

The combination of these factors — along with weak presence of opposition forces in Kurdish-majority areas, and the opposition candidate's Alevi background — influenced a significant portion of Kurdish voters, particularly conservative residents of major cities, to continue backing the AKP.

This segment of Kurdish voters believes that despite the draconian measured levied against the Kurds, Erdogan is more transparent in his approach, compared to the opposition. 

Observers believe that many Kurdish voters cast their ballots for the AKP in this election instead of the Kurdish Labour and Freedom coalition because the latter supported opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Split focus of HDP

The poor performance of Kurdish nationalist parties can also be attributed to their questionable political strategy in the past years.  

Instead of being of championing Kurdish rights and advocating for these rights to be enshrined in the constitution, the HDP aligned itself with marginal political forces, including communist and activist organisations. These groups hold little political power and sway and can do little to advocate for Kurdish rights.

In recent years the HDP has split its focus away from Kurdish nationalist issues, instead focusing on issues such as the environment, gender equality and gay rights.

This shift has cost it significant popularity in the Kurdish community who are looking for a party to empower the Kurds and advocate for their rights.