DPI Online Roundtable:‘Opposition’s Perspective on the Political, Social and Economic Effects of COVID-19 in Turkey’ with Pervin Buldan, Co-Chair of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)

DPI held an online roundtable on 6 May, entitled ‘Opposition’s Perspective on the political, social and economic effects of COVID-19 in Turkey’. This meeting was the second online roundtable held as part of a series of meetings with political parties in Turkey, including AK Party, CHP, DEVA Party, Future Party, HDP and Saadet Party. This roundtable meeting welcomed Pervin Buldan, who is a Member of Parliament from Istanbul and a co-chair of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

The purpose of this roundtable was to discuss the current political situation and the perspective and policies of HDP following the emergence of COVID-19. The meeting brought together through an online platform a diverse group of participants from different regions in Turkey, including academics, civil society, former Wise Persons Committee (WPC) members, journalists, politicians and lawyers. The participants represented the broad spectrum of different political affiliations in Turkey to allow for a lively, open and insightful discussion.

During the course of the meeting, Buldan expressed an eagerness to work with other opposition parties to advance democratisation in Turkey. She argued that such cooperation between HDP and other opposition parties should be transparent and it would provide an opportunity for working towards democratisation and normalisation.

We will continue our online discussions with other leaders of the political parties in order to keep dialogue alive during the course of this challenging and unprecedented time. The roundtables form part of a larger series of activities planned in the context of the project: “Supporting inclusive dialogue at a challenging time in Turkey”, supported by the EU and the Norwegian government.