HDP's Bilgen speaks of second round tactics

HDP Spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen, stating that their sole concern was to surmount the ten per cent threshold, concluded, “Solidarity in the second round will be just as valuable as the solidarity with our party aimed at the ten per cent threshold. I say this without naming names. We will respond with the same maturity in the second round to voters who voted for us in the first round.”

 Bilgen held a press conference at party headquarters.

 Noting that President Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech the day before yesterday in Diyarbakır was too much even for the prompter to take, Bilgen said, “Messages were imparted that turned historical facts inside out. An election was held in 2015 but the President stated that the votes cast for the HDP made the HDP conceited and the HDP poured the people out onto the street. It is impossible to become conceited in 2015 and pour the people onto the street in 2014. This technology has not yet been developed.” Bilgen stated that Erdoğan also said that the HDP had knocked down the non-existent clock tower in Diyarbakır.

 Pointing out that Erdoğan had implemented an important election tactic by waging a perception-management operation to criminalise the HDP, Bilgen said, “Our party and candidates are being criminalised so as to criminalise the HDP, prevent the HDP from surmounting the threshold and also to prevent the opposition from displaying solidarity and partnership in the second round.” Saying that the visits made to Demirtaş had disturbed Erdoğan greatly, Bilgen commented, “Was Pınarhisar Prison a mausoleum that people went there on visits? Why are they now so disturbed by the visits to Edirne?”

 To the question of whether there was agreement that, if Muharrem İnce made it to the second round, the HDP would support İnce, Bilgen commented, “We have no written text of an agreement with anyone, but society has an agreement. Society has a clear stance that it expects of all parties. Our current sole concern is surmounting the threshold and not remaining below the threshold.” Stating that in the second round, regardless of which candidate makes it into the second round, they will foster a partnership that has nothing to do with calculations over sharing posts, made the assessment, “Solidarity in the second round will be just as valuable as the solidarity with our party aimed at the ten per cent threshold. I say this without naming names. We will respond with the same maturity in the second round to voters who voted for us in the first round.”

 HDP'li Bilgen: Birinci turda bize oy verenlere...