HDP: The third option is the democracy alliance

* Photo: HDP

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Spokesperson Ebru Günay talked about the recent developments in Turkey at her weekly press conference at the HDP Central Office yesterday (February 17).

Speaking to the press in the capital city of Ankara, Günay raised concerns about the attack on the HDP Yüreğir District Office in Adana:

We know that these assaulters are the gangs fed, grown and raised by political power holders. They will never get any results from these attacks. They have been unable to intimidate us with any type of pressure so far in the face of our tradition of resistance and struggle. You will fail to intimidate us with these attacks.

HDP's Günay moved on to talk about the "democracy alliance" as a third option. The speech of Günay came nearly a week after the leaders of six opposition parties met in Ankara upon the invitation of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

A day after this meeting was held, HDP Co-Chair Pervin Buldan addressed the HDP İzmir Congress and briefly said, "The leaders of six political parties came together yesterday. All hell broke loose on social media after this meeting. Some asked why the HDP was not there. We don't recognize the ones who don't recognize us; let it be known."

At her weekly press conference yesterday, HDP Spokesperson Ebru Günay briefly stated the following:

'Dialogue, negotiation and resolution'

"We all know very well that the HDP is indispensable for Turkey's democracy and also the address of hope. What happened among the political blocs last week once again proved this fact. [...] This politics that cannot overstep the drawn circle, that cannot go beyond the official codes, that cannot overcome the mentality of denial has no benefits for Turkey.

"We see politics as an art of dialogue, negotiation and resolution. For this reason, it is of course important and meaningful that political parties are in negotiation with one another and meet with one another.

"However, the meetings, the frameworks of which are set by political power holders and the participants of which are set by nationalist impositions, cannot solve the problems of the country. They deepen these problems, they do not realize the mentality of a permanent resolution.

Democracy alliance: The third option

"We, the HDP and its constituents, are a party based on socialists, the ones who are on the side of democracy, Alevis, those who believe democratic Islamic values, laborers, women and young people and, more importantly, all identities that have been excluded by the system.

"The HDP is a party like no other; it is a party that goes beyond the ordinary in Turkey's politics. Within this framework, we find the democracy alliance important as a third option not only for the elections.

"We want to represent the third way outside the statist blocs and to realize the dream of a democratic country in favor of peoples.

"We will find the ground where we can meet with our friends and allies; we will bring this ground into being. It is to form a historic alliance from which not a single conscientious dissident is excluded. We, as the HDP, will continue working to bring the democratic alliance into being." (AS/SD)