Nationalist opposition rejects, others support negotiations with the HDP

Nationalist opposition rejects, others support negotiations with the HDP
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Good Party Vice Chairman Bahadir Erdem said he did not want to respond to an open letter from Selahattin Demirtas because there was "no such method in politics," but other parties in the bloc said Kemal Kilicdaroglu should talk to the HDP

The nationalist Good Party on Thursday rejected a call for negotiations by Selahattin Demirtas, the former leader of the pro-Kurdish 'Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), but other opposition bloc parties said they supported a visit by Kemal Kilicdaroglu to the HDP as the opposition bloc’s candidate.

"I do not want to talk about the letter of Selahattin Demirtas'. Because there is no such method in politics,"said Good Party Deputy Chairman Bahadir Erdem, but at least hinted at abandoning the "trustee regime," in which the government replaces elected Kurdish mayors with appointed bureaucrats, citing terror links.

On the other hand, DEVA Party and the Future Party, the smaller parties in the opposition bloc, would support talks with the HDP about backing their candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in their bid to unseat Tayyip Erdogan, despite concern it would scare off nationalist voters, sources told Reuters.

The HDP had stated that it would field its own candidate along with another alliance of leftist and pro-Kurdish parties, but it is now reconsidering that decision.

However, a firstround victory, which would require more than 50 percent of the vote, is unlikely without the support of the HDP, which is widely seen as a kingmaker in the elections that could end Erdogan's two-decade political reign.

Turkey's Constitutional Court is currently hearing a case seeking to ban the HDP for alleged links to Kurdish militants, which the party denies. In the election campaign, Erdogan is likely to play up the HDP's alleged links and 'opposition role, analysts say.