Kurds to shape Turkey's future in upcoming elections - HDP deputy

The voters of the HDP (People's Democratic Party) will remain and the HDP's policies will continue to be represented in the Turkish Parliament even if the party is closed due to the case before Turkey's Supreme Court, Meral Danis Bestas, the deputy parliamentary group leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP, said in an interview with Euronews.

"Kurds will shape the future of Turkey in this election," she said, along with youth, women and civil society.

"Even if the HDP is closed, we have many possibilities. We will participate in the elections within the framework of another political party, and we will win," she said.

The HDP, the third-largest party in Turkey's parliament with 56 deputies, is facing closure over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a claim it denies.

Bestas said the party has not yet determined who its candidate for the presidential election will be.

"What is important is that the candidate should be able to withstand the change and transformation in Turkey and appeal to an important part of Turkish society," she said.