The Labour and Freedom Alliance ( Turkish: ''Emek ve Özgürlük İttifakı'',

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

: ''Hevkariya Ked û Azadiyê'') is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

electoral alliance in Turkey, formed by

Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (; , abbreviated as DEM Party) is a pro- Kurdish political party in Turkey. It is the legal successor of the Green Left Party and with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) handing over its work to this ...

(DEM Parti), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP), Labour Party (EMEP), Labourist Movement Party (EHP), Social Freedom Party (TÖP) and Federation of Socialist Assemblies (SMF). The alliance declared its foundation on 25 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 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,

İstanbul Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population over , it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in th ...

on 24 September 2022. Eighty literary figures from Turkey, including names like

Murathan Mungan Murathan Mungan (born 21 April 1955) is a Turkish author, short story writer, playwright, and poet. Biography Mungan's family originates from Mardin. His father is an Arab and mother is a Bosniak. After receiving his BA from the Faculty of L ...

, Zülfü Livaneli, İnci Aral and Ahmet Ümit, signed a public declaration to support the alliance's foundation and its political goals. On 22 March 2023, the parties declared that they would not field a presidential candidate for the

2023 Turkish presidential election Turkish presidential elections, Presidential elections were held in Turkey in May 2023, alongside 2023 Turkish parliamentary election, parliamentary elections, to elect a President of Turkey, president for a term of five years. Dubbed the most ...

, boosting the chances of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

and Nation Alliance candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The alliance later endorsed Kılıçdaroğlu on 27 April 2023 in opposition to incumbent President Erdoğan's campaign.

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 naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

, the

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an democratic transition, authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction ...

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, 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 type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to: * People's Alliance ( ''Volksunie''), Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit * People's Alliance (Bulgaria), a Bulgarian party from 1921 to 1923 * People's Alliance ( ...

" and successfully encompass " workers, young people, farmers,

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

, LGBTI community,

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

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

egalitarian Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

, democratic and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

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. The major characteristic of a market ...

, crony capitalist,

neo-liberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

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 democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

practices of

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

and Justice and Development Party (AKP) governments.

Composition

Notes

References

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

Foundation

Ideology

Composition

See also

Notes

References