Turkey’s Kurdish party target of tug of war between Islamists, ultra-nationalists
As Turkey's ruling party and its nationalist ally face a deeper legitimacy crisis, pressure on Kurdish politics is intensifying.
Picture this: You're watching the evening news and you see a political party emblem — in this case, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) emblem — on which, in place of leaves and stars, are images of hand grenades and bullets. On top of that is a red seal on the logo, as if the party is already banned from politics. This was the image presented multiple times on pro-government television channel ATV and several social media accounts despite the HDP’s official complaints.
The television channel was simply following calls from Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The MHP is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ally in government. It is the party of the ultra-nationalist movement known as the Gray Wolves.
The Gray Wolves advocate for a militant approach against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Both Bahceli and senior members of the MHP target the HDP and its electorate. Even before the coalition between the MHP and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was formed, Bahceli provoked Erdogan over his approach to the HDP and the Kurdish issue.
This time, Bahceli’s demand to ban the HDP was echoed by other MHP elites in a dehumanizing manner against Kurds. For example, MHP deputy chairman Semih Yalcin posted a series of tweets in which he not only equated the HDP and the PKK as terrorist organizations but also referred to both in derogatory, dehumanizing terms. Different ultra-nationalist accounts spread these tweets far and wide and cheered Yalcin’s words.
