Swedish Left Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hans Linde said the ten per cent election threshold in Turkey was introduced to prevent Kurds and socialists entering parliament, adding that in order for the peace process to succeed and for democracy to be realised HDP must exceed the threshold.

Hans Linde said the European Union should raise the subject of the ten per cent threshold at accession talks with Turkey, and not allow Turkey to become a member until the matter is resolved. He added that in European countries the threshold varied between 3 and 5% and that it was unacceptable for Turkey to impose as ten per cent barrier to prevent the demands of different sections of society being reflected in parliament.

In reply to our question regarding what kind of problems might ensue in the event of the HDP failing to exceed the ten per cent threshold, Linde said: ”If the HDP remains outside parliament the reactions of the Kurds and the left in Turkey will increase. There will be a perception that there is no point working within the democratic parliamentary system. A tendency to resort to other methods will be strengthened. Therefore, it is in Turkey’s interest for the HDP to enter parliament.”

Linde said his party attached great importance to the fact that the HDP had included Armenian, Syriac, Roma, Circassian and other ethnicities amongst its candidates, in addition to Kurds and socialists. Linde recalled that at the previous elections a Syriac had been elected for the first time. ”This was significant for all the Christian peoples in Turkey. That was a victory for them. The HDP’s inclusion of representatives of other peoples will strengthen minority rights.”

Linde said if the HDP exceeded the threshold and took its place in parliament it would send out the message that Turkey was a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural country where not only Turks lived. To our question as to what the Left Party was considering to do to support the HDP, he replied:

“We are preparing to send election monitors, as we did at the last elections. I was in Diyarbakır. My experience in Turkey and Kurdistan tells me that there is a need for more eyes and ears in order for there to be a fair, democratic election. We will therefore send as many colleagues as possible.

Linde said he had personally witnessed the Turkish state and AKP government’s lack of tolerance for the BDP and HDP’s electoral success, adding: “In Diyarbakır the people came out onto the streets to celebrate and I saw with my own eyes how the police attacked them with water cannon and pepper gas. I was also affected. Foreign observers were also attacked. When I returned to Sweden I gave all my photos to the media. I hope there is not a repetition at these elections.”

He said the Left Party would be in Turkey both to support the HDP and to make a contribution to democratisation in Turkey. “We have always had good relations with the HDP and we hope it will exceed to ten per cent threshold,” he concluded.