The Labour and Freedom Alliance (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: ''Emek ve Özgürlük İttifakı'',

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

: ''Hevkariya Ked û Azadiyê'') is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

electoral alliance in Turkey, formed by Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP), Labour Party (EMEP), Labourist Movement Party (EHP),

Social Freedom Party The Social Freedom Party ( tr, Toplumsal Özgürlük Partisi, TÖP) is a political party in Turkey, founded on 9 March 2020. Initially a part of Socialist Refoundation Party, the group broke away from the SYKP in 2013 and established the Social ...

(TÖP) and Federation of Socialist Assemblies (SMF). The alliance declared its foundation on the 25th August 2022. In their declaration, the member parties jointly proclaimed that the alliance aims "equality, freedom, fraternity, peace and democracy for the Turkish society."

Foundation

The initial process of alliance negotiations started with meetings of individual parties. In early 2022, HDP openly called for

left-wing parties Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

to build a political alliance and invited TİP, EMEP, EHP, TÖP, SMF, SOL Parti and TKP for a preliminary gathering and discussion. SOL Parti immediately announced that they would not participate in discussions, citing disagreements on timing and strategy, while TKP declared their withdrawal after the first meeting. Although part of the meetings throughout, Halkevleri decided to not take part in the final formation of the alliance due to their reluctance to focus on upcoming elections, although adding that they would support the goals of the alliance. EmekOzgurlukKongre

The parties declared that the political program and the roadmap of the alliance will be announced in

Haliç Congress Center Haliç Congress Center ( tr, Haliç Kongre Merkezi), formerly Karağaç Slaughterhouse () or Sütlüce Slaughterhouse (), is a building initially opened in 1923 in order to ensure hygienic slaughtering and supervision in Istanbul. Its architect is ...

, İstanbul on 24 September 2022. Eighty literary figures from Turkey, including names like Murathan Mungan, Zülfü Livaneli,

İnci Aral İnci Aral is a well-known Turkish writer of novels and short stories who has works published around the world. She was born in 1944 in Denizli, Turkey, a city in the southwestern part of Turkey. She currently lives in Istanbul, Turkey with her hu ...

and

Ahmet Ümit Ahmet Ümit (born 1960) is a Turkish author and poet. He is best known for his crime novels. Early years Ahmet Ümit was born in Gaziantep, in south-central Turkey, in 1960. His father was a kilim merchant and his mother a tailor. He was the yo ...

, signed a public declaration to support the alliance's foundation and its political goals. On 22 March 2023, the parties declared that they will not field a presidential candidate for the

2023 Turkish presidential election Presidential elections are scheduled to take place in Turkey on 18 June 2023 as part of the 2023 general elections, alongside parliamentary elections. Voters will elect a new president for a term of five years. Background Elections of 2018 T ...

, boosting the chances of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP) candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Ideology

The member parties declared they would announce the alliance's guiding principles and political programme in September 2022. The leader of EMEP, pointed out that the strengthening of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

, the

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a ful ...

of the country, equal citizenship rights and putting an end to the economic, societal and environmental exploitation are the main political focuses while adding that the alliance should aim to expand beyond its current members.

Erkan Baş Erkan Baş (born 14 July 1979) is a Turkish Socialism, socialist politician and academic who currently serves as the leader of the Workers' Party of Turkey (2017), Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) and an MP for Istanbul. Early life and education ...

, leader of TİP, maintained that the alliance should constitute a credible alternative for "millions of people who are not (properly) represented by

Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

or People's Alliance" and successfully encompass " workers, young people, farmers,

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

, LGBTI community,

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

and

Alevis Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, wh ...

". Per the political declaration of the alliance, the parties offer an egalitarian,

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

, democratic and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

vision for Turkey, while denouncing the

pro-business A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers are ...

crony capitalist Crony capitalism, sometimes called cronyism, is an economic system in which businesses thrive not as a result of free enterprise, but rather as a return on money amassed through collusion between a business class and the political class. This is ...

, neo-liberal and

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

practices of

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

and

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

(AKP) governments.

Composition

Non-governmental organizations

Notes

References

{{Electoral alliances in Turkey 2022 establishments in Turkey Far-left politics in Turkey Left-wing political party alliances Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) Political parties established in 2022 Political party alliances in Turkey Socialist parties in Turkey