Founded 2011 Colours Yellow | Political position Left wing | |
Preceded by Thousand Hope Candidates (2007) Succeeded by Peoples' Democratic Party (2015) Ideology Socialism
Minority rights
Kurdish nationalism | ||
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 Turkey. The alliance contested the 2011 general election by fielding candidates from participating parties as independents in order to bypass the 10% election threshold needed to win seats in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The alliance won 5.67% of the vote, initially winning 36 MPs. The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey later annulled the election of BDP MP Hatip Dicle in Diyarbakır, reducing the alliance's elected MPs to 35. The Bloc fielded 65 candidates in 41 provinces.
Contents
The main participants were the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, the Labour Party (EMEP) and the Equality and Democracy Party (EDP). The EMEP had formed an alliance with the BDP's predecessor Democratic Society Party in the 2007 general election under the Thousand Hope Candidates banner. The EMEP leader Levent Tüzel, who failed to win election in 2007, was elected as an MP in 2011 as part of the Bloc. Several other smaller parties from left-wing origins were also part of the Bloc, though only the EMEP and the EDP had the right to contest the election as parties. The Labour Party fielded its own candidates as a party in provinces where the Bloc did not contest the election.
The alliance between several left-wing parties paved the way for the establishment of the Peoples' Democratic Congress. The Congress, in which many of the Bloc-supporting groups participated, established a political party named the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in 2012. The HDP contested the June 2015 general election as a party with many of the Bloc parties support, winning 13.12% of the vote and ending the convention of fielding independent candidates for general elections.
2011 election
The Bloc won 5.67% of the vote, with 35 of their candidates elected. The elected candidates mostly came from the Kurdish south-east of the country.
Candidates
Not all of these candidates are BDP politicians. This includes Labour Party leader Levent Tüzel.
The following candidates were imprisoned due to the investigation into the KCK confederalist organisation.