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| Labour, Democracy and Freedom Bloc | |
| Native Name: | Emek, Demokrasi ve Özgürlük Bloğu |
| Slogan: | Demokratik Cumhuriyet (A Democratic Republic) |
| Foundation: | 2011 |
| Predecessor: | Thousand Hope Candidates (2007) |
| Successor: | Peoples' Democratic Congress (2015) |
| Ideology: | Socialism Minority rights Kurdish nationalism |
| Position: | Left-wing |
| Blank1 Title: | Participating parties |
| Colours: | Yellow |
| Website: | Website |
| Country: | Turkey |
The Labour, Democracy and Freedom Bloc (Turkish: Emek, Demokrasi ve Özgürlük Bloğu) was an electoral alliance formed by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) with several other smaller left-wing parties and political movements in Turkey. The alliance contested the 2011 general election by fielding candidates from participating parties as independents in order to bypass the 10% election threshold needed to win seats in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The alliance won 5.67% of the vote, initially winning 36 MPs. The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey later annulled the election of BDP MP Hatip Dicle in Diyarbakır, reducing the alliance's elected MPs to 35. The Bloc fielded 65 candidates in 41 provinces.[1]
The main participants were the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, the Labour Party (EMEP) and the Equality and Democracy Party (EDP). The EMEP had formed an alliance with the BDP's predecessor Democratic Society Party in the 2007 general election under the Thousand Hope Candidates banner. The EMEP leader Levent Tüzel, who failed to win election in 2007, was elected as an MP in 2011 as part of the Bloc. Several other smaller parties from left-wing origins were also part of the Bloc, though only the EMEP and the EDP had the right to contest the election as parties. The Labour Party fielded its own candidates as a party in provinces where the Bloc did not contest the election.
The alliance between several left-wing parties paved the way for the establishment of the Peoples' Democratic Congress. The Congress, in which many of the Bloc-supporting groups participated, established a political party named the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in 2012. The HDP contested the June 2015 general election as a party with many of the Bloc parties support, winning 13.12% of the vote and ending the convention of fielding independent candidates for general elections.
The Bloc won 5.67% of the vote, with 35 of their candidates elected. The elected candidates mostly came from the Kurdish south-east of the country.
Veli Büyükşahin
Halil Aksoy
Sadrettin Güvener, Gerciş Utaş
İhsan Nergiz
Yüksel Avşar
Mehmet Bayraktar
Turan Cengiz
Hüsamettin Zenderlioğlu
Mehmet Deniz
Kemal Beler
Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Emine Ayna, Nursel Aydoğan, Altan Tan, Şerafettin Elçi
Sabahattin Yılmaz
Hasan Yalçınkaya
Selahattin Demirtaş, Adil Kurt, Esat Canan
Levent Tüzel, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Sebahat Tuncel
Erdal Avcı, Mehmet Tanhan
Mustafa Mamaklı
Mülkiye Birtane
Faik Karadaş
Emrullah Bingöl
Hacı Mehmet Bozdağ
Gani Rüzgar Şavata
Ayşegül Öztürk
Ahmet Türk, Gülser Yıldırım, Erol Dora
Şebal Şenyurt
Sırrı Sakık, Demir Çelik
Kamuran Bablak
Hüseyin Tanış
İbrahim Binici, İbrahim Ayhan
Hasip Kaplan, Selma Irmak, Faysal Sarıyıldız
Kerem Tosun
Kemal Aktaş, Özdal Üçer, Nazmi Gür, Aysel Tuğluk
İhsan CoşkunNot all of these candidates are BDP politicians.[2] [3] This includes Labour Party leader Levent Tüzel.[4]
The following candidates were imprisoned due to the investigation into the KCK confederalist organisation.
Halil Aksoy
Hüsamettin Zenderlioğlu
Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Emine Ayna, Nursel Aydoğan, Altan Tan, Şerafettin Elçi
Selahattin Demirtaş, Adil Kurt, Esat Canan
Levent Tüzel, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Sebahat Tuncel
Mülkiye Birtane
Ahmet Türk, Gülser Yıldırım, Erol Dora
Sırrı Sakık, Demir Çelik
İbrahim Binici, İbrahim Ayhan
Hasip Kaplan, Selma Irmak, Faysal Sarıyıldız
Kemal Aktaş, Özdal Üçer, Nazmi Gür, Aysel Tuğluk