Witnessing HDP Victory in Turkey: Election Monitors Report Back (London, 7 July)

Peace in Kurdistan Press Release:

Pre-election HDP rally in istanbul

Where: Committee Room 6, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

When:  Tuesday 7 July 2015 // 6.30pm – 8.30pm

Hosted by Kate Osamor MP

KT Comment:

Following the abominable ISIS massacre in Kobane – an atrocity that was clearly initiated from inside Turkey – the building of solidarity with the HDP and with Rojava and the YPG/YPJ is now even more important.

Speakers:

• Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Lecturer in Political Sociology in Department of sociology at Cambridge University
• Melanie Gingell, human rights lawyer; barrister, Doughty Street Chambers
• Bronwen Jones, family and immigration barrister, Mansfield Chambers
• John Hunt, journalist, writer, editor
• Sean Hawkey, photojournalist and Green Party member
• Derek Wall, International Coordinator of the Green Party of England and Wales

On 7th June the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, the HDP, won a historic victory in Turkey’s general elections and gained 13.1% of the national vote, surpassing the 10% threshold by a margin unexpected by even their most avid supporters. For the first time in the history of modern Turkey, an openly pro-Kurdish party will officially take up seats in Parliament.

Not only did the result prevent the AKP winning a majority, and in doing so curtail President Erdogan’s creeping authoritarianism, it also signifies a potentially dramatic advance for the Kurdish movement, which continues to struggle for self-determination and equality within Turkey and the region.

Peace in Kurdistan Campaign invites you to this public event to hear from our team of election observers, who spent 5 days in Turkey’s southeast to witness the outcome of the elections. They will provide insight into the HDP’s democratic project, which incorporates gender equality, pluralism, and ecologism, and the implications of the HDP’s success for the Turkish-Kurdish peace process, strengthening of Turkish democracy and Turkey’s policy towards Rojava and Syria.

Delegation statement

Read the statement written by the delegation on their return here: http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/uk-election-monitors-return-from-turkey-following-stunning-hdp-result/

This event will begin at 6.30pm – please allow 30 minutes to go through security at the Houses of Parliament.

HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş

For more information, please contact:

Peace in Kurdistan

Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question

Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk <mailto:estella24@tiscali.co.uk>

www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com

Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie  Sirinathsingh – Tel: 020 7272 7890

Fax: 020 7263 0596

Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Elfyn Llwyd, Conor Murphy, John Austin, Bruce Kent, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, John Berger, Edward Albee, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Mark Thomas, Nick Hildyard, Stephen Smellie, Derek Wall