2018 Selahattin Demirtaş presidential campaign explained

Selahattin Demirtaş for President
Campaigned For:	2018 Turkish presidential election
Candidate:	Selahattin Demirtaş Former chairman of the HDP (2014-2018) Presidential candidate for the 2014 presidential election (2014) The former leader of the BDP (2010-2014)
Status:	Announced 25 Apr 2018 Official nominee 4 May 2018
Affiliation:	HDP

Selahattin Demirtaş was officially announced as the candidate of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) on 4 May 2018, after members of the party had hinted at his candidacy weeks in advance. Party leader Pervin Buldan declared that Demirtaş, a jailed former co-chair of the HDP, would be leading a five-party "Kurdish alliance" into the general election.^[1]

Program

Defending “No” for the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum
- 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey
  (Full details)
More Minority and Women’s rights
Building a country without Capitalism
The support of Turkish membership of the European Union

Foreign policy

On European Union–Turkey relations, Demirtaş is known for his long-time support for Turkey’s EU accession process, focusing on the pledge to uphold human rights, local democracy, separation of powers and the rule of law as the main tenets of his future presidency. He distinguishes himself from other candidates in his unwavering criticism of what he sees as Brussels's neo-liberal economic agenda.^[2]

Notes and References

Web site: HDP nominates imprisoned former leader Demirtaş for presidency. Hürriyet Daily News. 4 May 2018.
Web site: What do Turkey’s other presidential candidates think about the EU?. 30 May 2018. Ahval. Doğa Ulaş Eralp. 31 May 2018. 22 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210122184827/https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-elections/what-do-turkeys-other-presidential-candidates-think-about-eu. dead.