Turkish main opposition CHP leader Özel visits pro-Kurdish DEM Party

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Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel on Dec. 13 visited the pro-Kurdish People's Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party in the capital Ankara.

CHP General Secretary Selin Sayek Böke and deputy chairs Gökhan Zeybek and Gül Çiftçi accompanied Özel in his visit.

Speaking after their meeting, the DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan said “Parties solve problems through dialogue. Opposition parties need discussions.”

Özel said dialogue between political parties was crucial for democracy and peace.

“We expressed our mutual wishes for success. We evaluated Turkey and the world. We evaluated the upcoming period. I would like to express that we had a very productive and constructive meeting,” Özel added.

The CHP and DEM Party executives discussed the local elections to be held on March 31, 2024.

Both parties previously announced that they might form “open” and “transparent” alliances for the local elections if they would form any. 

Mansur Yavaş and Ekrem İmamoğlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), were the first opposition mayors who garnered enough votes in 2019 to gain mayorship in the capital Ankara and Istanbul after decades. In the 2019 local elections, the İYİ (Good) Party and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) did not field mayoral candidates for Istanbul and Ankara metropolitan municipalities, making the race between the AKP and the CHP.

The İYİ Party announced that they would enter the local elections “freely and independently,” refusing any collaboration with the CHP. 

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