The Eastern Desk, which was established by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) to raise votes in the eastern provinces, based on Kurdish voting pattern in local elections, particularly the success in Istanbul, has finally arrived in the region. Established under the presidency of CHP Vice Chairman responsible for party organization, Oguz Kaan Salici, the Eastern Desk aims to increase the CHP’s organizational capacity with grass roots efforts and thus increase its voting rate in the region.

The Eastern Desk delegation, formed under the leadership of Salici, which will cover 24 provinces in the east and southeast, visited Sirnak, Hakkari, Van and Mus last week, holding member participation meetings, condolence visits, and convening with the CHP’s youth and women’s branches. The CHP, which is reformulating its eastern and southeastern policies in the lead up to the 2023 elections, responded to Erdogan’s frequent criticism that the party is mired in the west of the country, with little appeal in the east.

“They tell us that the CHP is unable to go beyond Sivas,” Salici said during a speech in Sirnak. “Here is beyond Sivas when you look at from Ankara. We reached the border. Is it far enough? It isn’t. This is only the beginning. We continue our work,” said CHP Vice Chairman Oguz Kaan.

PROMISE TO RESOLVE KURDISH ISSUE

Salici also responded to the criticism that the CHP is unable to resolve the Kurdish issue and that the party is bad with Kurdish voters. Salici said they will resolve the Kurdish issue through democratic means within the framework of a unitary state. “We won the Istanbul elections with your support,” said Salici, addressing Kurdish voters. “We have a general election ahead and the situation will be similar in that general election.”The CHP aims to increase voting rates with the Eastern Desk in the regions where historically it has received low votes. “In the region, there is Gaziantep where the CHP has two deputies, there are Tunceli, Kahramanmaras and Elazig where we have one deputy for each. We also have Agri where we receive low votes. We will visit all of these places and establish a common understanding with the people,” Salici said. Indictment of closure case delivered to HDP

The indictment of the case aiming to close the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and its 70 supplementary filings have been delivered to the party. After the indictment was delivered, the HDP made the following statement: “The first indictment of the closure case was returned by the Constitutional Court (AYM) on the anniversary of elections held on March 31, as it didn’t meet judicial quality standards. The second indictment, in which small changes were made, was submitted on June 7, 2021, the anniversary of the 2015 elections when the AK Party did not get enough votes to form a government, and the AYM approved it on June 21. The defense team, including fellow democratic lawyers and academics under the leadership of our Justice and Human Rights Commission, is preparing a comprehensive political defense to advocate not only for the HDP but also for democracy and the rule of law.”