BDP has officially launched its electoral campaign in Malazgirt and Mersin.

Local elections in Turkey are scheduled for 30 March next year. In Malazgirt the BDP held a meeting to explain the procedures and the list formation.

Malazgirt mayor M. Nuri Balcı and the BDP executives spoke to the people.  In Mersin the meeting was run by BDP executive İnan Kızılkaya.

The BDP officially kicked off its campaign for the 2014 Turkish Municipal Elections a couple of weeks ago.

The BDP will be running candidates in Kurdish provinces in the East of the country while the HDP in the West. In complying with party statues, a large percentage of the candidates will be women.

The parties will run under the slogan “Moving toward Democratic Liberation and Construction of a Free Life, Lets Build Our Own Genuine Systems of Self-Government.” In a statement issued by the BDP leadership, the party emphasized that their  “measure of success would be a strategic approach to the elections.” The statement went on to stress the inevitable need for systematic change in Turkey, and the need to develop a new model in the country – based on the principles of democratic autonomy as proposed by Abdullah Öcalan –  that would provide for the freedom of the Kurdish people and the possibility of real democracy in the country. The party reaffirmed that it “from today onward we want to work everywhere on this understanding. Those pursuing individual or particular interests in a spirit contrary to these principles will be held responsible by our party. It is important to be pay attention to this.” Two separate commissions have been put together to prepare and coordinate election work.

The most important question now is the selection of party candidates

The party went on to underscore the importance of selecting proper candidates, saying “ there must be defined criteria for mayors, city-council persons, and other representatives to be chosen by the people. They must be in touch with the values of the movement, they must be people who the people can embrace. They must be people who are consistent with the language and culture of the place from which they are chosen, who love to work, who take initiative, who are working people that embrace the democratic system that is forming and who understand the duty of complying with decisions taken by the party. Our candidates should not be representatives of personal or family interests but should consciously represent the interests of the people and give the people assurance on this subject. They should be open to educate themselves and be educated, and embrace the model of the free municipality and our understanding of local administration. They should labor on the foundation of our party’s standards of equity and justice, be deserving and capable of the duties assigned to them, and they should be people who are a reflection of and a representative force in society.”