Independent Candidates Hope for Change
Collaboration between Left and Kurds not perfect
Tüzel has been chosen to represent the left in Izmir's first constituency, and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) has promised the support of the "Kurdish vote".
The interviewer, Ahmet Tulgar, then pointed to the problematic situation in Istanbul's second constituency, where the left and the Kurdish party had not been able to reach agreement on a common candidate. Thus, there are two independent candidates standing, Prof. Dr. Baskin Oran for the left, and Dogan Erbas for the DTP, thus splitting the votes of those hoping to bring new voices into parliament.
Tüzel pointed to the short time that the left and the Kurdish DTP had had to organise their candidate lists before the deadline of 4 June, and acceded that the process had not always been ideal. However, he pointed to the importance of overcoming these kind of issues in order to bring representatives of democracy into parliament.
Need to address all inequalities
For Tüzel, the "Kurdish issue" is one of the priorities of the independent candidate movement, but he also considers poverty, unemployment, tax inequalities, corruption and privatization policies important issues. The fact that the DTP and the left have cooperated, says Tüzel, does not mean that only the Kurdish migrants to the metropoles will be considered. Inequalities affecting all people, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation, are the real issue.
In Hakkari hope for solution to "Kurdish issue"
In the light of the recent announcement of the General Staff that Hakkari (and two other south-eastern provinces) has been declared a "temporary security zone", two independent candidates for the pro-Kurdish DTP in Hakkari, Hamit Geylani, a lawyer, and Hatem Ike, a former mayor of Yüksekova (a district in Hakkari), discussed their candidacies.
Geylani described the current situation as "desperate", and accused the government of not having a clear stance towards the military decision. "What we experience now, is the result of an antidemocratic system." He argued that if the roots of the problem were not dealt with, there would be no solution. Geylani said that the aim of the independent candidates was to "create a parliament in which anyone, irrespective of language, religion, gender, without discrimination of identities" could express themselves freely.
Ike said that people in the region were hopeful about the independent candidates. He emphasised that he was not "of a tribe" (implying hierarchical power structures), but rather "of the people". His aim is to work towards the democratisation of Turkey and the end of war in the east of Turkey. He argues that if the "Kurdish issue" was solved, Turkey could move ahead. (AT/EÜ/NZ/AG/EÜ)