The Green Left Party continues canvassing in Amed ahead of the 14 May Presidential and general elections. The Green Left Party has visited all the city’s boroughs and aims to send 12 deputies to parliament.

Sevilay Çelenk is 6th in the list of the Green Left Party in Amed. She spoke to ANF about the reception the party gets from people.

Çelenk said that her whole family lives in Amed and that she actually always has one foot there. Noting that she had never actually left Amed for years even though she lives in Ankara, Çelenk said that everything in the city is as she had left it.

I see people trusting us

Çelenk said that canvassing is very important because it gives one the possibility to listen to people. She said the people of Amed showed enthusiasm and hope for a new future. She said: “I clearly see the trust they have in us. We try to be worthy of it. Everyone just wants to win the election. People do not want something for themselves, but for the benefit of the whole country. They want peace and democracy. Despite the policies of impoverishment, subjugation and corruption they have been faced with, people's hopes for these elections are very high. They entered each election with such enthusiasm and great emotional investment. But these were taken away from them. All the politicians they have voted for are in prison right now.”

They want to get rid of Erdoğan

Çelenk said: “Everyone wants to get rid of this one-man regime. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan doesn’t want to live. People want to end this regime. That's why the presidential election is, of course, important. People want someone they can trust to be president. At the same time, they want a very strong Green Left Party in parliament. We aim at electing at least 100 deputies. Our people want many women deputies. We are already the party with the highest rate of women candidates. Just a change of power is not enough. A very strong opposition is needed so that the new government will not be dragged into the same kind of discriminatory and exclusionary policies.”