British based Peace in Kurdistan Campaign has sent a solidarity message to presidential Candidate Selahattin Demirtas and all other HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) candidates contesting the election in Turkey on 24 June.

The message has been signed among others by Julie Ward MEP; Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia; Lord Hylton; Dr Jess Northey, International Coordinator Green Party of England and Wales; Ruth Maguire MSP - SNP, Cunningham South; Pauline McNeil MSP - Labour, Glasgow; Hywel Williams MP, Plaid Cymru; Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru; Christine Blower, NUT International Secretary; Jill Evans MEP, Plaid Cymru; Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, as well as by academics, researchers, unionists.

The message underlined that: "No party has been persecuted in Turkey like the HDP has. Your democratically elected Co-Chairs remain unjustly imprisoned along with your MPs and mayors, your offices have been raided, attacked and burnt down by nationalist criminals and party activists have been assaulted and killed by thugs".

Despite this -the statement reads- "you have withstood these and other unjust assaults from the State and refused to be intimidated".

The text of the message reads as follows:

We stand with you in this brave battle for the restoration of democracy in Turkey.  We hope that your campaign will receive the success it deserves and that you will be able to re-enter the Turkish Assembly and take up your rightful seats, representing the political will of millions of people in Turkey.

No party has been persecuted in Turkey like the HDP has. Your democratically elected Co-Chairs remain unjustly imprisoned along with your MPs and mayors, your offices have been raided, attacked and burnt down by nationalist criminals and party activists have been assaulted and killed by thugs. But you have withstood these and other unjust assaults from the State and refused to be intimidated. We, as Members of the UK and Scottish Parliaments, academics, trade unionists, lawyers and activists along with many people in the UK and around the world stand in solidarity with you in your political struggle for democracy, social justice and civil rights of all the oppressed men and women of Turkey, not least the Kurdish people who bear the brunt of the AKP's repressive and regressive sectarian policies.

We express profound respect for your courageous commitment and principled political campaign which inspires all those who believe in social justice, women’s rights, and the liberation of all oppressed peoples.

We recognise that the current election is crucial for the future of democracy in Turkey. It will not only elect a new Parliament but will give the incumbent president a renewed mandate, which President Erdogan intends to use to force through his long cherished plan to transform the country from a parliamentary democracy into a presidential system, which if endorsed will hand him virtually unlimited powers.

The fairness of the election taking place under a state of emergency has been called into serious question by your party, and other progressive opposition forces. You have highlighted the blatant manipulation of the political process by the AKP, the shocking scale of repression, its control of the media, mass imprisonment of journalists and clampdown on civil rights, including suppression of freedom of assembly and expression, which impose unwarranted restrictions on normal campaigning across the country.

This present political climate inside Turkey creates huge challenges to a free and fair election process to take place. We therefore believe that it is absolutely essential that authoritative independent observers are sent to Turkey and we are working to achieve this. We want you to know that you are not alone in your struggle and that we will stand with you in your just demands for a return to full democratic principles.

Your candidate for President, Selahattin Demirtas, conducts an exemplary campaign from his prison cell and we have heard and were inspired by his speech transmitted by mobile phone, saying:  What we see is that those who are party to the Turkish refugee deal and who sell weapons to Turkey at great profit have become much more quiet about Turkish human rights issues than before. Europe has abandoned Turkey's opposition groups and democratic forces. It is ignoring its own principles, which took so long to establish. So we prefer appealing to the people of Europe and its democratic public spheres, instead of calling on certain political leaders. 

We are responding to this plea and strongly support you in all your endeavours during the course of this vital election campaign over the coming days.

In solidarity

Dr Radha D’Souza, Reader in Law, Westminster University; Professor Bill Bowring, School of Law, Birkbeck College, University of London; Dr Nadje Al-Ali,  Chair, Centre of Gender Studies, SOAS; Julie Ward MEP; Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia; Lord Hylton; Dr Jess Northey, International Coordinator Green Party of England and Wales; Amber Huff, Researcher Sussex University; Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Lecturer of Political Sociology, Cambridge University; Dr Johanna Riha, Epidemiologist; Dr Derek Wall, Goldsmith, University of London; Ross Greer MSP, External Affairs Spokesperson, Scottish Green Party; Bob Doris MSP - SNP, Maryhill & Springburn; John Finnie MSP - Green, Highlands & Islands; Clare Haughey MSP-SNP, Rutherglen; Ruth Maguire MSP - SNP, Cunningham South; Pauline McNeil MSP - Labour, Glasgow; Hywel Williams MP, Plaid Cymru; Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru; Christine Blower, NUT International Secretary; Jill Evans MEP, Plaid Cymru; Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy; Mohammed Elnaiem, Editor at TheRegion; John Hunt, journalist and writer; James Kelman, writer; Les Levidow, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC); Nick Hildyard, policy analyst; Janet Biehl, translator, Democratic Autonomy in North Kurdistan (2013); Simon Dubbins, International Director UNITE; Clare Baker, International Officer UNITE; Dirk Campbell, composer; Rahila Gupta, journalist and writer; Southhall Black Sisters; Lindsey German, Convenor, Stop the War Coalition; Dr. Federico Venturini, independent activist-researcher, Imrali Peace Delegation; Chris Den Hond, video journalist, Margaret Owen, OBE, Director of Widows for Peace through Democracy; Kristel Cuvelier, Kurdish Institute Brussels;  Annette Lawson OBE; Mary Davis,  Visiting Professor Royal Holloway University London; Bruce Kent, Vice-President Pax Christi; Bronwen Jones, Goldsmith Chambers; Mike Mansfield QC; Steve Sweeney, International Editor, Morning Star; Debbie Bookchin, journalist, USA; Maggie Bowden, Genereal Secretary, Liberation; Housan Mahmoud, women’s rights campaigner, co-founder of Culture Project; Isabel Kaeser, PhD student SOAS University; Sarah Parker, writer; Dr Sarah Glynn; Angelica de Freitas e Silva; Stephen Smellie, Deputy Covenor UNISON Scotland; Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, General Federation of Trade Unions; Dr Tom Wakeford, ECT Group, London; Trevor Rayne, Editorial Board of Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!; Jonathan Bloch, writer; Robert Atkins, lawyer; Saleh Mamon, CAMPACC; Raghu Jayantiya, Political Activist, London; Veronica Fagan, Socialist Resistance; Andreas Gavrelides, Greek-Kurdish Solidarity; Hagir Ahmed, human rights campaigner; Zaher Baher, Kurdish writer and activist; Dr Felix Padel, Oxford University, David Morgan, journalist;  Melanie Gingell, Peace in Kurdistan; Estella Schmid, Peace in Kurdistan.