The Democratic Society Party was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the Socialist International. It was considered to be the successor of the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP). On 11 December 2009, the Constitutional Court of Turkey banned the DTP, ruling that the party has become "focal point of activities against the indivisible unity of the state, the country and the nation". The ban has been widely criticized both by groups within Turkey and by several international organizations. The party was succeeded by the Peace and Democracy Party.
Pervin Buldan is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin. She was a member of the Democratic Society Party (DTP). She is President of Yakay-Der and one of the deputy speakers in the 26th Parliament of Turkey. On 11 February 2018, she was elected co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the party's 3rd ordinary congress.
Selahattin Demirtaş is a Kurdish politician and author, member of the parliament of Turkey since 2007. He was co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), serving alongside Figen Yüksekdağ from 2014 to 2018. He has been imprisoned since November 2016.
The Peoples' Democratic Party, or Democratic Party of the Peoples, is a pro-minority political party in Turkey. Generally left-wing, the party places a strong emphasis on participatory and radical democracy, feminism, LGBT+ rights, minority rights, youth rights and egalitarianism. It is an associate member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) a consultative member of the Socialist International and a party within the Progressive Alliance (PA).
Figen Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu is a Turkish politician and journalist, who was a former co-leader of the left-wing Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey from 2014 to 2017, serving alongside Selahattin Demirtaş. She was a Member of Parliament for Van since the June 2015 general election until her parliamentary membership was revoked by the courts on 21 February 2017. Her party membership and therefore her co-leadership position were revoked by the courts on 9 March 2017 following a six-year prison sentence for distributing terrorist propaganda.
The Labour, Democracy and Freedom Bloc was an electoral alliance formed by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) with several other smaller left-wing parties and political movements in Turkey. The alliance contested the 2011 general election by fielding candidates from participating parties as independents in order to bypass the 10% election threshold needed to win seats in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The alliance won 5.67% of the vote, initially winning 36 MPs. The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey later annulled the election of BDP MP Hatip Dicle in Diyarbakır, reducing the alliance's elected MPs to 35. The Bloc fielded 65 candidates in 41 provinces.
Mithat Sancar is a Turkish professor of public and constitutional law, columnist and translator of Arab descent. He has been an MP for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the Turkish parliament since the June 2015 general election and was elected Co-Chair of the party in February 2020.
İdris Baluken is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin who currently serves as a parliamentary group leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) since April 2014. He previously served as a parliamentary group leader for the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) from 2012 until the party's MPs joined the HDP in April 2014.
Serpil Kemalbay Pekgözegü is a politician and former co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
The 3rd Peoples' Democratic Party Extraordinary Congress was held on 20 May 2017 to elect a new female co-leader for the Turkish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). The party's previous chairwoman, Figen Yüksekdağ, had been imprisoned in November 2016 for inciting violence and distributing terrorist propaganda and had her party membership revoked on 9 March 2017.
Sezai Temelli is a Turkish politician, and former chairman of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey. He is currently a Member of Parliament representing Van for the HDP.
The 2018 Turkish presidential election took place on 24 June 2018 as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President will be both the head of state and head of government of Turkey, taking over the latter role from the to-be-abolished office of the Prime Minister.
The 2018 Turkish parliamentary election took place on 24 June 2018 as part of the 2018 Turkish general election, with a presidential election taking place on the same day. Originally scheduled for 3 November 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called a snap election on 18 April after months of speculation. With the passage of a series of constitutional amendments in the 2017 referendum, the number of MPs will be increased from the previous 550 to 600. These representatives will be elected by the constituents of the 87 electoral districts of Turkey by party-list proportional representation.
Selahattin Demirtaş was officially announced as the candidate of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) on 4 May 2018, after members of the party had hinted at his candidacy weeks in advance. Party leader Pervin Buldan declared that Demirtaş, a jailed former co-chair of the HDP, would be leading a five-party "Kurdish alliance" into the general election.
Multiple political parties in Turkey underwent candidate selection processes in the run-up to the 2018 presidential election. Parties represented in the Grand National Assembly were able to field candidates directly by collecting signatures from at least 20 of their Members of Parliament, as were parties who had no representation but won more than 5% in the previous general election. Candidates that did not meet either criterion were required to obtain over 100,000 signatures from Turkish citizens between 4 and 9 May.
Abdullah Zeydan is a Turkish politician of Kurdish descent and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP).
Ömer Öcalan is a politician of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and a current member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
Çağlar Demirel is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin and a former member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
The People's Democratic Party closure case refers to a legal procedure during which the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was threatened with a closure and hundreds of its politicians with a political ban for five years. The HDP was accused by the state prosecutor to have organizational ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
On the 17 June 2021, Deniz Poyraz, a 38 year old member of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was killed in the HDP party headquarters in Konak, Izmir which was under police surveillance.
