The Peoples' Democratic Congress (, HDK) is a union of numerous

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 ...

political movements, organisations and parties in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

that aims to fundamentally recreate

Turkish politics Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

and represent oppressed, exploited individuals who face ethnic, religious or gender discrimination. The Congress is

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

and was formed on 15 October 2011. It organises numerous conferences and holds official congresses. In 2012, the Congress established a new party that would act as its political wing, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). A similar union of left-wing groups, the United June Movement, was formed in 2014.

Formation

In preparation for the 2011 general election, the

Peace and Democracy Party The Peace and Democracy Party (, , BDP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey existing from 2008 to 2014. Development BDP succeeded the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in 2008, following the closure of the latter party for its alleged conne ...

(BDP) and several smaller parties fielded joint candidates as independents, under the '

Labour, Democracy and Freedom Bloc 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 ...

' banner. The purpose was to by-pass the 10%

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various w ...

needed by parties to gain representation in the Grand National Assembly. 35 of the 61 candidates that ran under the Bloc were elected. After the election, these parties came together with smaller

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

rights movements and others to form the Peoples' Democratic Congress in October 2011, with

Ertuğrul Kürkçü Ertuğrul Kürkçü (born 5 May 1948) is a Turkish politician, socialist activist and the current Honorary President of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) as of 22 June 2014 and Honorary Associate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of ...

and

Sebahat Tuncel Sebahat Tuncel (born 5 July 1975) is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin, women's rights advocate, former nurse and member of the Parliament in Turkey. She was elected a member of parliament while being in prison. Early life and education ...

as the spokesman and spokeswoman respectively.

Aims

The Congress aims to provide a platform for oppressed and exploited individual as well as minorities facing religious or ethnic discrimination. The Congress also is strongly in favour of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and thus operates a co-leader system with one male and one female spokesperson. The Congress aims to represent Kurdish minority in particular and is critical of the lack of constitutional enshrinement of minority rights. Other minorities that the Congress aims to represent are

Alevis Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...

, Laz, the

community and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

. The Congress is heavily critical of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and what they see as the exploitation of workers. Politically, the Congress is

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...

and has its political interests represented by the Peoples' Democratic Party. The

Democratic Regions Party The Democratic Regions Party (, DBP, , PHD) is a Kurdish political party in the Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called Ea ...

is also affiliated with the Congress but runs for local government positions in the Kurdish majority south-east only.

Participants

*78'ers Initiative *

Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey The Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Devrimci İşçi Sendikaları Konfederasyonu'', DİSK) is one of the four major national trade union centres in Turkey. It was founded in 1967 as a breakaway union fr ...

**Cam Keramik İş ** **Limter İş ** *Democracy and Freedom Movement (DÖH) *Democratic Free Women's Movement (DÖKH) *Democratic Pomak Movement *

(DBP) *Free Democratic Alevi Movement *Global Action Group (KEG) *Hevi LGBTİ * Democratic Islamic Congress * *Kaldıraç * Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (KAOS GL) * Labour Party (EMEP) *Marxist Attitude *Munzur Protection Board * *Partizan *

Party of the Greens and the Left Future Party of Greens and the Left Future (, YSGP), abbreviated as Green Left Party (, YSP), is a green and left-libertarian party in Turkey. History The first YSP was founded on 25 November 2012 as a merger of the Greens Party and the Equality a ...

(YSGP) * Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) *

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) *Rainbow Women's Association * Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (DSİP) * Social Freedom Party (TÖP) * Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) * Socialist Refoundation Party (SYKP) * (SODAP) *Solidarity with the Palestinian People (FHDD) *Teori Politika *Theory and Society: Kurdish Studies *Tüm Köy Sen *Turkey Truth *Voice of Labor In addition, Socialist Alternative is not a participant in the HDK but is broadly supportive of it.

External links

A full list of the Congress members

References

{{Electoral alliances in Turkey 2011 establishments in Turkey

Formation

Aims

Participants

See also

External links

References