Turkey's top Kurdish politician to run for president from behind bars

Turkish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party is nominating its jailed former leader Selahattin Demirtas as its candidate in the upcoming snap elections.
A supporter holds a portrait of Selahattin Demirtas, detained leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) at a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, November 8, 2016, in the absence of Demirtas and other HDP lawmakers who were jailed after refusing to give testimony in a probe linked to "terrorist propaganda". REUTERS/Umit Bektas - D1BEULQHGVAA
A supporter holds a portrait of Selahattin Demirtas, detained leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party, at a meeting at the Turkish parliament, Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 8, 2016. - REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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Amberin Zaman
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The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is gearing up to nominate its imprisoned former co-chair, Selahattin Demirtas, as its presidential candidate in the June 24 snap polls. In an executive board meeting today, the country'y largest pro-Kurdish bloc agreed on fielding Demirtas and is expected to make a formal announcement in the coming days, CNN Turk reported.

Though Demirtas faces a slew of terror charges over his alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), there currently are no legal obstacles to his candidacy.

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