Intimidation against opposition prevails days before Turkish election
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Five days before fateful elections in Turkey, opposition candidates and supporters have been attacked. Kurds, who may be the kingmakers of the elections on May 14, have been particularly singled out for abuse.
In an interview with al-Monitor, Ceylan Akca says that Turkish security forces have harassed her and her team on the campaign trail. Akca is a candidate for the Party of Greens and the Left Future (YSP), a party standing in for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is facing forced closure by the Turkish Supreme Court over trumped-up terrorism charges.
“Wherever we go… riot police is always by our side,” Akca explains. They are meant to intimidate YSP supporters. During speeches, police film all those present and listen for ‘trigger’ words, she explains, like ‘war’, ‘fascism’, or ‘isolation’. If they hear them, they play loud noises through their own speakers in order to drown out their speeches.
This is not only abusive, she quips, but also “a waste of resources … there is use for human power in earthquake zones.”
The YSP has partnered with civil society groups in order to watch for foul play on the day of the elections. Lawyer groups will provide legal counsel, media organizations will monitor for any pressure on news outlets, and independent observers will be present at “nearly all” ballot boxes in the southeast, Akca says.
Such vital political actors have recently been targeted by the government, which arrested as many as 150 Kurdish journalists, artists, lawyers, and politicians in a series of raids last week.
Despite once heralding a new beginning for Turkish-Kurdish relations, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lost much of his popularity in the Kurdish-majority southeast since 2015, when Turkish forces devastated many of the region’s cities. The pro-Kurdish HDP has encouraged its supporters to lend their vote to the opposition’s presidential candidate on May 14 in order to unseat Erdogan.
The president has made use of his speeches this week to make inflammatory statements against the Turkish opposition, alleging that it is supported by the PKK, which the government classifies as a terror organization. Violence against Kurds and opposition parties is rampant. In Erdin, a city on the border with Greece, the YSP says their activists were knifed down while canvassing. Police arrested the YSP activists, including a 60-year-old woman, whose arm was fractured during the arrest.
On the weekend, the campaign bus of Ekrem Imamoglu, the Istanbul mayor and opposition candidate for the position of vice-president, was pelted by far-right supporters of Erdogan’s coalition partner in the eastern city of Erzurum. At least 15 people were injured during the attack. Reportedly, police present at the scene did not intervene. Turkey’s Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, blamed Imamoglu for the attack, saying it had gone ahead without the proper permits.
Akca says that this violence is directly related to the failure to investigate and prosecute a 2015 attack by Turkish nationalists against an HDP rally in the same city, when 150 of the party’s vehicles were burned down and 200 people were injured. At least one HDP activist had been thrown into a burning car. A driver was shot dead.
“When the same people in charge of state security are running in the current elections, it makes it a more dangerous climate for everyone,” the Kurdish politician added.
Fights have also broken out among Turkish voters in Germany, the Netherlands, and France. In at least one case, in France’s Marseille, far-right Turks attacked YSP voters.
The Turkish government’s attacks against Kurds have also continued in Syria and Iraq. In the Qandil mountains, Turkish forces have continued to assault PKK positions, despite a unilateral ceasefire issued by the PKK until after the Turkish elections. In northern Syria, Turkey conducted its 13th drone strike this year on May 5, killing at least two fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces. According to the Rojava Information Center, these attacks have killed 16 people since January, 5 of whom were civilians.