One of the most important elections in the history of Turkey is now behind us. We feel the anger and sadness of not being able to unseat the AKP-MHP alliance which uses all powers of the state to their fullest extent and declares all factions of the opposition to be enemies of state and terrorists.
The source of our hope is the fact that despite all the threats and underhanded tricks, more than half of our people have not voted for the Palace Regime. We know that we owe a debt to all impoverished workers, all women left alone against violence and all youth prevented from having dreams for our country.
We are persistent. Our faith in beautiful days for our country and our people strengthens our resolve. We declare once again, on May 15th 2023, that no power can take away that faith.
This is the day to rise again once more.
This is the day to tell each other that we can defeat the government.
This is the day to draw inspiration from our history which has not bowed before the Palace a century ago.
As the Workers’ Party of Turkey, we hereby declare that we will do our part to help Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu win and Tayyip Erdoğan lose on the 2nd Round of the Presidential Elections on May 28th.
On behalf of tens of thousands of members and voters approaching a million, we tell our people “You have our word.”
Just as diligently our members worked before May 14th, just as how our volunteers used their creative labour, so will you see the same excitement and enthusiasm for Kılıçdaroğlu in the next 14 days.
Our lawyers and specialists are working on their inspections and objections for the results of the elections which are now behind us. We are working for our candidates who were seemingly unelected due to a few thousand votes and our representation which is understood to be lost to AKP and MHP. Moreover, we are evaluating the data regarding the manipulation of the elections in the disaster zone and in some cities where images of such manipulation could be seen in the media. We will work until the last drop of our sweat to ensure that our party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the opposition get their dues.
Members of the Workers’ Party of Turkey will volunteer and take responsibility for safeguarding ballots and prevent irregularities in the cities mentioned above. Thus we hereby declare, already and ahead of time.
As the Workers’ Party of Turkey, we are proud that 4, for the time being, of our representatives have been elected thanks to almost a million votes (1.75% of the votes, received in 51 of the 81 provinces). Our representatives elected in Istanbul; Chairperson Erkan Baş, Party spokesperson Sera Kadıgil, Party Assembly member Ahmet Şık, and our representative elected in Hatay; Attorney Can Atalay will carry the fight and the voice of our people to the Parliament from the bottom of their lungs. They will be the safeguard of the people. We thank our people and our allies in the Labour and Freedom Alliance for the highest number of votes which an openly socialist party has received in our country since 1965. We greet all our friends who declared “Our persistence is our willpower,” and endured all defamation, baseless accusations and the fingers pointed at them. Thanks to you, the faith in the workers coming to power in Turkey has grown and socialist politics have become a real alternative. It has been seen that no vote cast for TİP was in vain and have resulted in gains for the left and the united labour front.
Our Party Assembly and apparatus will carry out a more detailed evaluation of the elections and these will be shared with the public. Now, our duty as fellow citizens approaching a million is to bring over at least one more person to our side and work to our limits to get this regime of tyranny of our backs in the next 14 days.
We will not give up, hope we shall exalt and victory we shall make certain!
