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KT News:
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With local elections due in March 2014, the pro-Kurd Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is today holding primary elections in Diyarbakır to select its candidates for mayoral and city council positions. According to ANF, the BDP has received more than 10,000 applications across the country from people wanting to stand for the party and 167 people have put themselves forward for mayoral candidacies in the Diyarbakır/Amed municipality.
The BDP’s Amed organisation is holding a primary election today in the districts of Bağlar, Kayapınar, Sur and Yenişehir. 12,000 members are eligible to vote at 52 polling stations. The party seeks to have a minimum of 40 per cent of nominations from women.
Against the background of a slow-moving peace process, next year will be a key elections year in Turkey, with presidential polls in August and the possibility of a referendum on a yet-to-be-agreed new constitution. The March local elections will be a significant test of the ruling AKP’s continued support across the country – and also of the BDP’s strength, especially in northern Kurdistan.
