HDP Parliamentary Group President, Filiz Kerestecioğlu, held a press conference in the parliament.

Kerestecioğlu, begun by saluting the Labor Day rallies and then said the “people will take back what it’s theirs after the elections, whether in the economic or working field”.

Kerestecioğlu emphasized that the government promised to students, 50 days before the election, “an amnesty. Of course it says the amnesty if not for those students ‘with links with terrorism’. Then I ask: is there any student who is not actually accused precisely of having links with terrorism?” Because, she added, “scores of students have been accused of this after Newroz, after the occupation of Afrin”.

Referring to the death of a young woman wearing a headscarf in prison, she said: “A young woman wearing headscarf, a young English teacher, died in prison because the illness she was suffering from was not cured, despite her family telling the authorities she needed medical attention”. Halime Gülsu was arrested and detained under the Gülen's investigation.

Erdogan doesn’t offer progress

Kerestecioğlu continued: "24 June will be the date of change” and added that “our biggest desire is to end this government based on repression and lies, a one-man state. We want a country where collectivity, friendship of nations, solidarity prime. Democracy will be the building stone of our history, we will be governed by someone who share decisions with the people, who respects the different views, thoughts and beliefs of all citizens: Such a person will be president, and his initials maybe S. and D. Erdogan is not invincible, he is just trying to impose this perception. This is time for freedom, time for HDP, time for everyone to come together”.

Alliance and electoral threshold

Answering to a journalist’s question on the “possible alliances of the opposition”, Kerestecioğlu said: “It looks they will actually opt for a right wing alliance. We have a social democratic party in the middle, but this party has for days been throwing the ball to the Iyi Parti (Good Party). They are trying to make an alliance without the HDP. The CHP should lean towards the left, but it doesn’t”.

The HDP deputy said: “It looks like two right wing alliances will compete in these elections. They are on that side, the HDP is on this side”.

As to the possible problems the HDP could experience with the threshold, Filiz Kerestecioğlu replied: “We won’t experience any problem. On the contrary, the only left wing party today in Turkey is the HDP, therefore all left votes will go to the HDP”.