The HDP has introduced its parliamentary candidates at a meeting in Ankara.  

HDP Co-presidents Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş introduced the candidates at a packed meeting at the Chamber of Civil Engineering.

Figen Yüksekdağ spoke first, saying: "Today is an extraordinary day. It has snowed in April and we have 550 splendid candidates who offer hope. We have women candidates who are in the vanguard of the women’s movement. We have mothers who have lost their children who were guerrillas and families of soldiers who died in the conflict. It is the HDP which has brought this about. HDP represents the hope of peace.” 

Yüksekdağ added that it was the HDP which would overthrow those resisting change, adding: “The HDP is a river that no threshold can contain.” She said the basis of liberation of the peoples in Turkey was women, at which the slogan ‘Women, life, freedom’ arose from the audience.

Demirtaş begins with humour

HDP Co-president Demirtaş began by making a humorous comment, saying: “I greet our people who are watching on television, if the broadcast is not censored.  He stressed the importance of uniting the different communities in Turkey, saying the HDP contained all the varied colours of the country. Demirtaş warned of possible tension during the election campaign, saying: "As the government panics it will raise tensions. But despite the anti-democratic election atmosphere we will  not abandon the democratic race. None of the parties are our enemies, they are our rivals. We exist with our ideas, representing all the different strands of society in Turkey. When the ballot boxes are opened on the evening of 7 June, Turkey will be heading for peace. This will be a victory for all the peoples of the Middle East, not just for the HDP.”

Following Demirtaş's speech the HDP's campaign song: "We are the HDP, we are heading to Parliament” was played to applause. 

The candidates were then introduced, with the stage proving too small for all 550.