Turkey needs varied voices in democracy to stop crises: Demirtas
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkey needs more democracy to pull itself out of even "deeper political and economic crises" following a "humiliating" electoral defeat of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) in last month's elections, opined a prominent jailed Kurdish politician.
"The only way to avoid the looming economic crisis — especially soaring unemployment and rising inflation — is to urgently implement democratic political reform," wrote Selahattin Demirtas, the former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party in The Washington Post on Friday.
The article was Demirtas' first wide-ranging opinion piece published in Western media since Turkey held municipal and local elections on March 31.
"We believe that these elections have shown the way forward. If the government continues its authoritarian course, however, I worry that deeper political and economic crises are on the way," he added.
The AKP lost the posts of mayor to the largest opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), in Istanbul officially, and in Ankara and Izmir unoficially.
Erdogan was formerly the mayor of Istanbul. Former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was beaten out by Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul. Prior to the elections, the smaller HDP "strategically" encouraged its supporters to vote for opposition candidates, particularly in large cities.
The election was largely viewed as a referendum on AKP dominance in the country.
"Erdogan, who rightly viewed the elections as a referendum on his rule, suffered a humiliating defeat. His party lost control of five of the largest cities in the country..." wrote Demirtas.
There was no immediate response from the AKP. When Demirtas has previously written scathing pieces, the AKP has rarely directly responded.
Demirtas has been jailed since 2016 on various charges including having ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party. He faces more than 140 years in prison if found guilty on all counts.
Demirtas argues that "thousands of members of the [HDP] should currently be participating in politics — including me — are in prison on political grounds"
He also argues that politicians like him who are "deemed 'terrorists' by government officials" need to play a greater role in Turkey's political landscape, as evidenced by the recent election results.
"Current developments in the Middle East (and especially Syria) show clearly what course Turkey must follow: We must strive for unity and social cohesion. We can achieve this end only by rallying around the principles of peace and democracy," wrote Demirtas.
The Kurdish politician is jailed in Erdine Prison. He communicates with media through a lawyer.
The HDP views the losses by the AKP as a positive; however, the former lost in some of its perceived strongholds such as Sirnak. It did retain Diyarbakir's mayorship after their candidate was cleared in an investigation.
Final, official election results have not been fully approved across the country by Turkey's Supreme Electoral Council (YSK).
The Council of Europe is encouraging Turkey to finalize the process "to implement the decisions taken by the voters."