Selahattin Demirtaş

The government has been working hard to carry Türkiye a step forward after bringing the country to the current level with the policy of "work and service," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 2.

Ayla Jean Yackley, a journalist covering Turkey with stories in The Financial Times, Politico, and other major outlets, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss her interview with Selahattin Demirtaş - who led the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP), Turkey's third-largest political group, before he was jailed in 2016 - for the Financial Times, that explores the decisive role Turkey's Kurds will play in the

Members of Pro-Kurdish party Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) shout slogans against government in Istanbul, Turkey, 25 September 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

"Our party will not give a verbal self-defence on April 11 against the attitude of the Constitutional Court, which means interference in free and fair elections," the HDP said in a statement.

Kurds who have long felt sidelined in Turkish politics could have a decisive role in a closely fought May election that will determine whether President Tayyip Erdogan extends his rule after more than two decades in power.

A jailed Kurdish leader said an attempt to ban his leftist party was part of Tayyip Erdogan's plans to foment "chaos" in Turkey's opposition ahead of elections this year, but said it would not save the president from defeat after two decades in power.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has announced that it will appoint its own candidate for the presidential elections slated for spring 2023.

The rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Türkiye are not fair and politically motivated, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, underlining that his government will continue to take measures to improve the quality of judicial services for the Turkish people.

Supporters of the HDP shout slogans during their march against the arrest of pro-Kurdish People's Democtaric Party HDP parliamentarians in Istanbul, 18 June 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has criticized the government for imposing pressure on the oppositional municipalities and blocking their services to the people.

Turkish Gendarmerie clash with Kurdish demonstrators during a protest against Islamic State (IS) militants near Sanliurfa, Turkey, 07 October 2014. Photo: EPA/SEDAT SUNA

A little over half were arrested and the others were still being sought, the Ankara Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.