Resignation of party members from the ruling party AKP continues in North Kurdistan in the face of strong criticism regarding the candidates named by the party in Kurdish cities. While the party executives of the Hamur branch in Ağrı resigned from the AKP and joined the HDP, 13 party executives in local branches in Van province have also submitted their resignations.

The executives of the AKP’s local branch in the Hamur district of Ağrı have joined the HDP with a ceremony held in the HDP office. Veli Çelik, Necmettin Kaçmen, Ercan Turgut and Veysi Örgül were serving on the executive committee of the AKP’s Hamur branch and resigned from the party and said they did not want to do the dirty work of the AKP in the region any more. The ceremony held in the HDP office was attended by HDP Ağrı deputy Direyet Dilan Tasdemir, and the HDP Agri province branch co-chairs Sabri Tayfun and Hanım Yıldırım. Speaking at the ceremony, HDP Agri co-chair Tayfun said the Kurdish people who had been members of different parties now want to gather in the HDP, as they do not accept the cruelty imposed on the Kurdish people and welcome the new life presented to the peoples of Turkey by the programme of the HDP.

The new members of the HDP said they wanted to say no to the errors carried out by the AKP and had therefore come home to the HDP to continue in politics.

In the meantime, 13 members of the AKP in Van province have also resigned from the party as they strongly opposed the MP candidates of the AKP in Van. 4 counsellors from Tuşba Municipality, 2 counsellors from Edremit Munucipality and 7 counsellors from İpekyolu Municipality have announced their resignation from the AKP.