Third alliance enters the fray ahead of Turkish elections
The leftist Labor and Freedom Alliance pledges to undo injustice but could risk a split in the opposition vote.
ISTANBUL — A third political alliance has been announced for Turkey’s upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections, leaving observers wondering about its potential impact on what was previously a two-horse race.
The Labor and Freedom Alliance is a coalition of six left-wing parties, with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) by far the dominant element with 56 lawmakers in the Turkish Grand National Assembly as Turkey’s third biggest parliamentary party.
The Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP) is the next largest with four legislators in parliament, while the other groups — the Labor Party, the Social Freedom Party, the Labor Movement Party and the Socialist Assemblies Federation — have no parliamentary representation.
The creation of a third force in Turkish politics comes in addition to two existing coalitions: the People’s Alliance of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), and the opposition Nation Alliance composed of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Iyi Party, the Democrat Party and the Felicity Party.
