“This decision is clearly a decision of war on the Kurds. It is a decision to send the Kurds to the mountains [to become guerillas]. If the rulers of this country have decided for war, then that is just fine. Then the Kurds will fight the war.” Bengi Yıldız, BDP politician | April 19 2011
Euronews April 18 2011
The breaking news of Monday night was truly breaking: Turkey’s Supreme Election Board, or YSK, a board of judges whose job is to oversee the electoral process, had vetoed the candidacy of 12 “independents.” Seven of them were supported by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP. One of them was the famous Leyla Zana, a Kurdish activist who had spent a decade in prison after being convicted of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
This news created a great reaction and uproar, for the vetoing of these candidates is a clear interference in the upcoming elections on June 12. The “independents” already represent a political line that is disadvantaged because of the 10 percent national election threshold. Now the fact that a dozen of them are taken out of the game by a court decision adds much more to the feelings of discrimination. Not just the Kurds but also all democrats are very, very angry.
The breaking news of Monday night was truly breaking: Turkey’s Supreme Election Board, or YSK, a board of judges whose job is to oversee the electoral process, had vetoed the candidacy of 12 “independents.” Seven of them were supported by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP. One of them was the famous Leyla Zana, a Kurdish activist who had spent a decade in prison after being convicted of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
This news created a great reaction and uproar, for the vetoing of these candidates is a clear interference in the upcoming elections on June 12. The “independents” already represent a political line that is disadvantaged because of the 10 percent national election threshold. Now the fact that a dozen of them are taken out of the game by a court decision adds much more to the feelings of discrimination. Not just the Kurds but also all democrats are very, very angry.
