Dear friends in the HDP,
Dear Selahattin Demirtas,
We would like to congratulate you dearly on your success with the presidential elections.
Four million votes and nearly 10 percent are a wonderful result for a left party in Turkey.
This result is a good starting point for the parliamentary elections next year and for a strong left Kurdish opposition in the Turkish parliament.
We worry about the election victory of Erdoğan and the forthcoming constitutional amendment.
The depressing situation of the people in Rojava and Iraq, the social problems in Turkey and the dismantling of the democracy, the peace process which comes to a standstill, the still high number of political prisoners in Turkey and many refugees which have fled from Syria and Iraq to Turkey, all these many big problems seems to be even more gloomily with the background, that Erdoğan and his authoritarian power politics in the presidential office will further continue. HDP and BDP are faced with huge challenges. We wish you for all the work which lies still ahead of you, and against the resistance which will come up against you, particularly courage and perseverance. Turkey needs a strong left, and we stand in your fight for peace, democracy and justice on your side.
In solidarity
Katja Kipping & Bernd Riexinger
August 2014