Rise and fall of the dream called HDP

HDP's massive election rally in Istanbul, May 30, 2015.

Two historic general elections were held in Turkey over the course of four months in 2015. The desperate losers in the first elections on 7 June turned out to be the (in)glorious winners 120 days later, serving to confirm the idea that elections can serve different goals depending on their particular political contexts. Moreover, by the second elections on 1 November, what had been a relatively stable and peaceful country in June 2015 was now in the throes of a violent ‘war on terror’ against the Kurdish militants. This left a tenuous 2013 ceasefire in tatters and changed the face of Kurdish towns into virtual war zones.

Within this broad arc of events lies the crucial story of the rise and (perhaps) fall of the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP). For the first time in the history of Turkey, on 7 June a pro-Kurdish party attracted enough 'Turkish' support to surpass the 10% election threshold and gain access to parliament. This triggered a chain of reactions that precipitated a re-election, resurgent ultranationalism, escalated fighting in the east, and severe crackdowns on the press and other forms of personal freedom. Political positions have solidified alongside these events and spaces for political expression have narrowed if not closed completely. HDP, faced with waning support, is struggling to negotiate this shrinking field, maintain its legitimacy amongst its constituents, and make productive use of however much time left it has in the Turkish parliament.

How could have this happened? What effect did this reemergence of violence – a trademark of the “military solution” of the Kurdish issue since the 1990s – have on the triumphant rise and then fading of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party (HDP)? Moreover, what does this mean for the political space of parliament in Turkey, and how has their entrance into the Turkish Grand National Assembly altered Turkish politics?