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HDP PRESENTS 3 MORE ARMENIAN CANDIDATES FOR NOMINATION
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 18 2015
Armenian preliminary candidates for the upcoming election, supported
by Nor Zartonk, gathered for a press conference on Wednesday in
Ä°stanbul. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
March 18, 2015, Wednesday/ 16:42:42/ ZEYNEP KARATAÅ~^ / ISTANBUL
Three more Armenian candidates were presented for nomination for the
upcoming general election during a press conference held on Wednesday
at the Armenian Culture and Solidarity Association Center in Ä°stanbul.
Filor Uluk, Murad Mıhcı and Diren Cevahir Å~^en are running on the
pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) ticket, the party with
the highest number of minority candidates. Uluk, Mıhcı and Å~^en
will be running as representatives for the Nor Zartonk Initiative --
a civil society group representing Turkey's Armenian community set
up to fight hate crimes and discrimination.
The conference began with an introduction in Armenian by Nor Zartonk
spokesperson Sayat Tekir. Then, switching to Turkish, Tekir explained:
"We, as the Armenian community, have gone without representation for
55 years. Therefore, it is with great excitement that I present to you
three Armenian preliminary candidates for the upcoming June election."
Tekir later told Today's Zaman that there are a total of eight Armenian
preliminary candidates for the upcoming election.
"[In the] democratic portions of Turkish society, through outlets
such as the HDP, public forums, the Gezi Park resistance and several
other fields, they [Armenians] are showing themselves. And in one way
or another [they] are repeating their calls for equality, freedom,
peace and justice," stated Tekir.
"We are at a historical opportunity because our candidates are
representatives for the Peoples' Democratic Party and they are
running against a critically anti-democratic 10 percent threshold,
which somehow continues to exist. Every political party, prior to
being elected, has promised that it will lift such a threshold,
but it continues. This is the first time that we might be able to
surpass this 10 percent threshold, and the public is showing us this
[with their support]," claimed Tekir.
Tekir was referring to the HDP's choice not to present independent
candidates for Parliament, a risky move due to the 10 percent
threshold. If the HDP is not able to surpass the parliamentary
threshold, then all HDP votes will be transferred to the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party), and the HDP will be left
unrepresented in Parliament.
Minority women representation
Uluk was born in 1960 in Samatya, a predominantly Armenian neighborhood
of Ä°stanbul. Throughout the 1990s, she was an active member of parties
such as the People's Labor Party (HEP), the Social Democratic People's
Party (SHP) and the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP).
"We are a group living in a society where patriarchy is the model
presented to us. As Armenians, beyond being oppressed, we are the
women whose voices go unheard, of a people that closed ourselves off
under suppression. We are first represented by our fathers, then by
our husbands after we are married, for the most part," explained Uluk.
"I believe that the time has come for us to take advantage of the
historic opportunity presented to us," she added.
http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_hdp-presents-3-more-armenian-candidates-for-nomination_375629.html
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 18 2015
Armenian preliminary candidates for the upcoming election, supported
by Nor Zartonk, gathered for a press conference on Wednesday in
Ä°stanbul. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
March 18, 2015, Wednesday/ 16:42:42/ ZEYNEP KARATAÅ~^ / ISTANBUL
Three more Armenian candidates were presented for nomination for the
upcoming general election during a press conference held on Wednesday
at the Armenian Culture and Solidarity Association Center in Ä°stanbul.
Filor Uluk, Murad Mıhcı and Diren Cevahir Å~^en are running on the
pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) ticket, the party with
the highest number of minority candidates. Uluk, Mıhcı and Å~^en
will be running as representatives for the Nor Zartonk Initiative --
a civil society group representing Turkey's Armenian community set
up to fight hate crimes and discrimination.
The conference began with an introduction in Armenian by Nor Zartonk
spokesperson Sayat Tekir. Then, switching to Turkish, Tekir explained:
"We, as the Armenian community, have gone without representation for
55 years. Therefore, it is with great excitement that I present to you
three Armenian preliminary candidates for the upcoming June election."
Tekir later told Today's Zaman that there are a total of eight Armenian
preliminary candidates for the upcoming election.
"[In the] democratic portions of Turkish society, through outlets
such as the HDP, public forums, the Gezi Park resistance and several
other fields, they [Armenians] are showing themselves. And in one way
or another [they] are repeating their calls for equality, freedom,
peace and justice," stated Tekir.
"We are at a historical opportunity because our candidates are
representatives for the Peoples' Democratic Party and they are
running against a critically anti-democratic 10 percent threshold,
which somehow continues to exist. Every political party, prior to
being elected, has promised that it will lift such a threshold,
but it continues. This is the first time that we might be able to
surpass this 10 percent threshold, and the public is showing us this
[with their support]," claimed Tekir.
Tekir was referring to the HDP's choice not to present independent
candidates for Parliament, a risky move due to the 10 percent
threshold. If the HDP is not able to surpass the parliamentary
threshold, then all HDP votes will be transferred to the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party), and the HDP will be left
unrepresented in Parliament.
Minority women representation
Uluk was born in 1960 in Samatya, a predominantly Armenian neighborhood
of Ä°stanbul. Throughout the 1990s, she was an active member of parties
such as the People's Labor Party (HEP), the Social Democratic People's
Party (SHP) and the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP).
"We are a group living in a society where patriarchy is the model
presented to us. As Armenians, beyond being oppressed, we are the
women whose voices go unheard, of a people that closed ourselves off
under suppression. We are first represented by our fathers, then by
our husbands after we are married, for the most part," explained Uluk.
"I believe that the time has come for us to take advantage of the
historic opportunity presented to us," she added.
http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_hdp-presents-3-more-armenian-candidates-for-nomination_375629.html
From: A. Papazian