'First we beat discrimination; next up, electoral threshold'
ANKARA (DİHA) - Women migrants who have settled in the village of Yakacık, near Turkey's capital of Ankara, say the village stands behind the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and its anti-discrimination appeal.
The 10,000-person village of Yakacık has become home for residents from a range of Kurdish and Turkish provinces, force to leave their homes due to diverse experiences of violence and inequality. Whatever their differences, they shared experiences of victimization at the hands of the state eventually made the villagers a cohesive unit. Women voters in the village, who say residents are planning to vote for the HDP in Turkey's upcoming June election, explained why the party—which takes a strong stance against discrimination—has become another commonality between them.
Nadire Temel, 55, says that when her Kurdish family first came to the village, many of the residents called them "terrorists." She said that PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) Leader Abdullah Öcalan has long prioritized overcoming the social divisions and racism against Kurds that led to discrimination against the Kurdish people. The HDP, as a party of all oppressed people, has brought this dream to life, according to Temel.
"The leader's project has become a reality. It's coming to life," she said. "Those who called Kurds terrorists in the past today support us." Temel says she will do everything possible to make sure the HDP overcome the 10% electoral threshold that keeps many political parties out of Turkey's Parliament.
As for 32-year-old Fatma Yurtsever, a Yakacık native whose family migrated to the village from the west of Turkey, she said that in the past, her grandparents would never have voted for a Kurd. With the rise of the HDP, this perception has changed. She says her grandparents have overcome the state's politics that led them to think that Kurds were "bad people."
"If [our grandparents] support our helping with [HDP] projects, I really believe that the HDP is going to win and overcome the electoral threshold," said Yurtsever. "The most important thing is that the thresholds in people's heads have already been overcome."
Another village woman, Leman Ürper, says there were people who refused to speak to her family for years because they were Kurdish. Now, she says, people who she never imagined would support the HDP have told her they will vote for them. If the HDP surpasses the electoral threshold, she said, she anticipates they will never experience that level of discrimination again.
(cm/nt)
