HDP and EMEP form alliance for election

2015-02-23 07:23:01

ANKARA (DİHA) - The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Labor Party (EMEP) announced their decision to join forces ahead of the June 7 general elections in Turkey, according to a statement released on Sunday.

The HDP is seeking alliances with leftist parties to increase its share of the vote in order to overcome the 10 percent election threshold. "We will enter this election in an alliance… in accordance with the common struggle we have pursued until today," the statement, signed by both party co-leaders, said.

HDP's co-chairman, Selahattin Demirtas, earlier urged all leftist parties to show their stance against the AKP government at the "most critical" election in the history of Turkey. The Labor Party, or EMEP, is currently not represented in parliament, due to election threshold.

Demirtaş, who was the HDP candidate for Turkish presidency in the August 2014 election, won 9.8 percent of the vote.

(nt)