CHP’s former southeastern provincial head joins HDP

ADIYAMAN – Doğan News Agency

AA Photo

The former head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Adıyaman provincial branch, Bilal Doğan, has joined the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) along with some 200 relatives on May 18.

Doğan, who had resigned from his previous position to run for the CHP in the June 7 elections, has joined the HDP after he was not listed as a CHP candidate.

Doğan and his relatives marched to the HDP’s election bureau in the Karapınar neighborhood of Adıyaman late May 18.

Doğan was welcomed by Mülkiye Birtane, the HDP Kars deputy, at the election bureau. Doğan said he was feeling happy and hopeful joining the HDP. 

He said while in the party, he will work to stop “the wrongdoings [and] exclusivist policies disregarding human rights carried out by the ruling Justice and Development Party [AKP].”

Birtane said people from different religions, identities and ethnic backgrounds, along with all dissenters, would unite under the umbrella of the HDP. She also said that they expected more party support and participation from all across the country. 

The incident came a week after a number of local clans in southeastern Turkey, who had been known to vote for the AKP, announced their support for the HDP in the upcoming elections. They have held a demonstration in support of the HDP on the streets of Şanlıurfa, a southeastern province.