What Do People Think About the Elections in Diyarbakır?

Before the general election will be held on June 7, we were in Diyarbakır province on our Southeastern Anatolia tour with a group of journalists.

All political parties’ banners and flags covered the walls of the city but Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) seemed to have the greatest impact on people. People in the street talked kindly and ingeniously. We didn’t come across any hate speech.

People in Diyarbakır had their say:

A 50-year-old woman told she voted for Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the past but she regretted. She complained about favoritism of the government.

A 40-year-old woman said the President Tayyip Erdoğan put his nose into everything and she was very annoyed with Erdoğan’s that behavior and added Eroğan was exploiting the religion. The woman left us by saying her peace wishes.

“Kurds are seen as aliens”

All women we talked to emphasized “peace”.

“Aren’t we all human beings? We don’t discriminate Turks from Kurds.”

“I brought my kids to doctor in Ankara. People asked me where I came from. When I said ‘Diyarbakır’ they looked at me like I was alien. Common people think folks in Diyarbakır always throw stones to the police or something like that. “

“I’m very afraid of Erdoğan that he will be another ‘Kenan Evren”

Another old woman told:

“We just want peace. I’m very afraid of Erdoğan that he will be another ‘Kenan Evren’ (recently passed away head of 1980 military coup). I’m very nervous about HDP whether it will pass the election threshold or not.”

“We live in a space age. Enough with the wars!”

A 60-year-old man said he didn’t want conflicts and fighting anymore.

“We live in a space age. Enough with the wars!”

 A 30-year-old man and a woman at the same age: “We Kurds are oppressed. If we had equalities we wouldn’t be discriminated. This is not a ‘Turks vs. Kurds problem.’ This is a matter of life and death!”

 “I support AKP”

A tradesman told:

“I support AKP due to religious reasons. Erdoğan does his best. We love Erdoğan and PM Ahmet Davutoğlu and I don’t suppose Erdoğan is exploiting the religion. Moreover, I don’t believe in corruption allegations about the President.”

What youngsters think about?

We met university students in Sülüklü Han (a historical Tavern in Diyarbakır).

“There are not just Kurds in this region. There are Armenians, Assyrians and Arabs, too. HDP embraces all of them. Young people will lead the way in the elections.”

“We are sick and tired of the policemen waiting in front of Dicle University in Diyarbakır. They can receive diplomas instead of us if they want to spend time in university so much.

Conversation kept with laughter:

“We don’t think there are too many radical young people who support AKP.”

We learnt students admired Selahattin Demirtaş. Especially female students… They told they liked the attitude and behaviour of Demirtaş and his speech and thought Demirtaş was a charismatic leader.

“We wish we could take a selfie with Demirtaş one day…“ (BK/BD)

* This tour has been made with the help of coordinatorship of P24.

Click here to read this article in Turkish