Ertuğrul Kürkçü told reporters that Sırrı Süreyya Önder will most likely be the newly formed Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) candidate for mayor of Istanbul in the upcoming municipal elections next March.
"There is a good possibility of him being the candidate - he said - If he is he deserves it. However to such an announcement before our debate has taken place would really be at odds with our internal democracy. We will look to approve a candidacy on the foundation of all of our constituents, the entire congress, the party and the Gezi uprising that has today made Istanbul one of the most important centers of debate. The moment we have this consent in our hands then Sırrı Süreyya Önder can be declared our candidate".

Kürkçü himself is expected to be elected as the party’s general secretary.

He underlined that "the party is one of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress’s (HDK) most important vehicles to carry the political struggle to the both municipal councils and the parliament. The HDK will take a place in the grassroots struggle that is being carried on in social, political and cultural life".

As to the political goals of the party the BDP Mersin deputy underlined that "The demands that the HDK built itself around are also the principal demands of the HDP. In order for Turkey to be governed as a social and democratic republic requires that there be substantial revolutionary changes.  In this environment in order for the Kurdish people to be able to govern themselves, and in order to provide for self-governance significant political and administrative reforms need to be carried out; In this environment governments should have autonomy, a new political structure needs to emerge and our objectives of freedom and of the peace which has been struggled for with so much sacrifice certainly must be agreed upon. Turkey’s progression from the climate of cease-fire to an enduring peace, and a political regime that possesses all the rights and freedoms necessary for an enduring peace are the objectives we are struggling for. From the perspective of local administration we will work for a status that offers the possibility that local governments can become fundamentally independent of the center and govern themselves".

* Translated by The Rojava Report