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Turkey's minorities join race for parliament

An unprecedented number of minority candidates will run in Turkey’s June 7 general elections, promising representation for ethnic and religious communities after decades of parliamentary absence.
Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), addresses his party members as he starts his campaign for Turkey's June 7 parliamentary elections, during a meeting in Ankara April 10, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas  - RTR4WSQ9
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Turkey’s political parties announced their ambitious candidate lists this week for the June 7 general elections, which will deliver a fateful verdict on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions to install a presidential system. In a remarkable development, the parties have opened up to minority groups, which have been largely sidelined from politics, excluding the early years of the modern republic. Members of the Greek, Armenian, Yazidi and Roma communities have been given favorable spots on the slates, raising the prospect of strong minority representation in the next parliament.

The pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP), on a quest to become a nationwide party appealing to voters beyond its traditional Kurdish base, has fielded three Armenian candidates — Garo (Karabet) Paylan, Murad Mihci and Filor Uluk Benli — in addition to two Yazidis, Ali Atalan and Feleknaz Uca, and the Syriac Erol Dora. The list of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) features Armenian journalist Markar Esayan.

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