German politicians congratulate HDP on elections
ISTANBUL
REUTERS file photo
A number of German politicians have taken to Twitter to congratulate the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) for crossing the 10 percent threshold to enter parliament.
“Despite prison, oppression, censorship, and fraud, the HDP made it to parliament and broke the majority of [ruling Justice and Development Party] AKP of [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan,” the German politician of Turkish descendent Cem Özdemir, the former co-chair of Germany’s Green Party, said on his Twitter account on June 24.
“May the [Republican People’s Party] CHP and the HDP be a thorn in the flesh of the regime and uphold the light of democracy!” added Özdemir, who is known to be a vocal critic of the Turkish government.
Bernd Riexinger, co-chair of Germany’s The Left (Die Linke) party, also congratulated the HDP for its success in Sunday’s elections.
“Our HDP friends passed the 10 elections threshold and will be represented in the Turkish Parliament stronger than before. We are happy about this and congratulate the party with sincerity – the fight for peace, freedom, and justice will continue!” Riexinger said in a Twitter message on June 25.
Meanwhile, Left party lawmaker Heike Hänsel, who was in Turkey’s eastern province of Van as an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) election observer, described the HDP’s entering of parliament as a “great success.”
“It’s a great success for the HDP that they have managed to re-enter parliament, although their [presidential] candidate [Selahattin] Demirtaş and numerous lawmakers as well as members are in prison. In Van, celebrations are being undertaken,” Hänsel said in a Twitter message on June 24.
