By backing the opposition, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) used a surgical strategy in Turkey's local elections March 31 to help defeat the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Kurdish votes were the key to the AKP's loss in many areas, including big metropolises such as Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, and other important centers such as Antalya, Mersin and Artvin.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s narrative that a win for his party would be necessary as a “matter of national survival” didn't bring the AKP the victory he sought. This narrative referred to the threat he said is posed by the Kurdish movement led by the HDP inside the country and by the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Syria on Turkey's border.

Before the elections, Erdogan’s government launched heavy security operations in mainly Kurdish cities including Cizre, Nusaybin and Sur. Erdogan portrayed these operations as part of Turkey’s war on terror against outlawed Kurdish militants. But the government’s efforts were in fact weakening democracy and damaging people’s morale in the region. For example, the government replaced the elected mayors of many cities and towns with officially appointed trustees. In addition, some 7,000 people were imprisoned, including HDP officials and activists.

Kurdish groups have been targeted by military operations, such as Turkey's move on Afrin in Syria. Erdogan also repeatedly threatened to wipe out the autonomous Kurdish structure there to appeal to and consolidate his nationalist-conservative base ahead of the elections.