No Candidates by HDP for Metropolitan Municipalities of İstanbul, İzmir, Adana

* Photograph: AA-Archive

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Spokesperson Saruhan Oluç held a press conference today (January 28) and announced that the party will not nominate candidates for the metropolitan municipalities of İstanbul, İzmir and Adana in local elections on March 31, 2019.

Stating that no metropolitan mayor candidates will be nominated in these three provinces under the party logo of the HDP, Oluç also added that they will continue working for these provinces so that the candidates nominated by democracy forces could receive votes.

Regarding the remaining metropolitan and provincial municipalities, Oluç said that they will make a statement about them when they have finalized their works concerning these municipalities.

It was alleged "no candidates in 7 provinces"

In a article published on the Mezopotamya Agency (MA) regarding the HDP Party Assembly and Central Executive Board meetings held at the weekend, it was alleged that the party would not nominate mayor candidates for the metropolitan municipalities of seven provinces, namely İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Adana, Antep, Urfa and Mersin.

It was also indicated that the HDP would still nominate candidates for certain districts of these provinces where the party has voter potential.

Especially since October 2018, it has occasionally been reported in the news that the party could support the candidates of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in certain Western provinces in Turkey instead of nominating its own candidates.

For instance, in an article published on BBC Türkçe on October 6, 2018, it was reported that the party could support the candidates of the CHP in İstanbul, İzmir and Ankara on the condition that the candidates in question do not criminalize the HDP and have a democratic identity. (EKN/SD)