Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), which set out with the aim of ensuring the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) would fail to cross Turkey’s 10% electoral threshold, campaigned under the de facto leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with a fundamentalist, fascist, sexist, provocative and polarizing rhetoric. The hardening of the discourse also provided a green light to counter-guerrillas to step up their physical attacks on the HDP. The AKP, however, failed in its attempt to create an atmosphere of conflict due to the HDP’s patient and prudent rhetoric, with millions rallying around the slogan of “Peace will win.”

The HDP’s decision to enter the elections as a party, rather than as independents, jeopardized both the AKP’s plans to secure a constitutional majority and implement a presidential system and its plans to form a one-party government, prompting the ruling party to verbally attack the HDP and organize violent attacks against it. With its ministers, MPs, cadres, media and especially President Erdoğan and PM Ahmet Davutoğlu, the AKP took constant aim at the HDP.

First signal from Erdoğan

The first indication of the AKP’s strategy to ensure the HDP did not cross the threshold was Erdoğan’s consternation at the results of the Dolmabahçe Understanding, in which the HDP and the AKP government announced a more tangible framework for the Kurdish peace process. Declaring on March 22 his distaste at seeing HDP and AKP officials together at Dolmabahçe, Erdoğan did his best to upend the negotiating table by rebuking the idea of a joint, HDP-AKP declaration; negotiations; and the dispatching of a delegation to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. In subsequent rallies, Erdoğan even declared that there was “no such thing as a Kurdish problem.”

Fundamentalist, fascist, sexist attacks in targeting the HDP

With Erdoğan blazing a trail for the AKP, the party’s fundamentalist, fascist and sexist character was turned into propaganda material en masse.

The president appeared at rallies with a Qur’an in hand, argued with HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş about a million-lira luxury official car for the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) and, surreally even for his own high standards, accused the Kurds of being Zoroastrians. Davutoğlu, meanwhile, continued to spread the lie that Demirtaş had declared “Taksim to be our Kaaba.”

Equating the HDP with the PKK and identifying it with violence was presented as “democracy.” Deputy PM Yalçın Akdoğan, one of the architects of the peace process, professed that it would be “wonderful if the HDP fell below the threshold,” declaring this to be “necessary for democracy.”

Out on the hustings, AKP MPs declared the HDP to be an “extension of the terror organization,” while the AKP media produced ever-more fantastical conspiracy theories as campaign material. Erdoğan grimly also turned the tables on the HDP following twin bomb attacks on the party’s Adana and Mersin offices, proffering: “They are shamelessly accusing us. Bombs, guns and violence are your job.”

Former Interior Minister Efkan Ala also waded into the debate; touching on a June 4 fascist in Erzurum in which an HDP vehicle was burnt together with its driver, Ala elected to criticize HDP supporters for taking down AKP flags at the conclusion of the rally, instead of the assailants. Additionally, Ala accused the HDP for destroying the city’s tranquility by deigning to hold a rally. Davutoğlu, meanwhile, concluded the procession by declaring that “every vote for the HDP is a vote for terror.”

Covering all its bases, the AKP also deployed sexist rhetoric wherever possible. Erdoğan, Davutoğlu and Ala repeatedly took aim at HDP Eskişehir candidate Barış Sulu for being from the LGBTI community, with Erdoğan proclaiming that it was “hypocrisy” for the party to run an LGBTI candidate in one province and an imam in another.

Attacks, detentions, arrests, torture and prohibitions

Attacks directed against HDP campaign workers, rallies, election offices and vehicles rose sharply following comments by the AKP.

According to a report published June 3 by the Human Rights Association (İHD), there were a total of 168 attacks against the HDP during its election work. Together with the attacks that came after June 3, the number has approached 200.

Some 93 HDP members and supporters were beaten during large-scale attacks, attempted lynchings and sieges of buildings, but only 10 assailants were taken into custody; of these, only one was arrested. In contrast, 195 HDP members were detained in the course of the campaign, 12 of whom were merely election observers. Of the total, eight were arrested. Thirty-two of those detained were also subjected to torture while in custody.

At the same time, authorities also banned two HDP rallies and a concert, blocked another march and refused to provide a square for an additional rally.

Attacks by counter-guerrillas

Running in parallel to the other attacks against the HDP were organized, violent attacks by AKP/counter-guerrillas. The first counter-guerrilla attack was conducted in the eastern province of Ağrı on April 11. HDP members had planned a tree-planting event in an area outside the province’s Diyadin district, prompting an operation by soldiers at the order of the governor’s office. Soldiers attacked PKK forces stationed in the area, precipitating a clash in which at least one guerrilla and one local HDP official was killed and which left a number of soldiers injured. Local citizens, however, were filmed rescuing soldiers amid overwhelming evidence that the operation had been designed to result in at least 15 soldiers’ casualties whose subsequent funerals would fuel anti-Kurdish and anti-HDP sentiment.

On April 18, the HDP’s Headquarters was targeted in gunfire, although no injuries were reported.

One month later, on May 18, twin bomb attacks were conducted against the HDP’s offices in Adana and Mersin, resulting in injuries to provincial HDP leaders. No suspects were found, although Davutoğlu quickly declared the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) to be responsible, prompting an immediate denial from the left-wing revolutionary organization.

Waiting until the final week before playing their best cards, counter-guerrillas in Bingöl’s Karlıova district opened fire on an HDP vehicle operated by Hamdullah Öğe, before dragging him out of the car, torturing him and killing him with at least 30 bullets.

One day later on June 4, a thousand-strong fascist group attacked HDP supporters arriving for a rally in Erzurum with stones. With police unwilling to effectively stop the action, the mob staged a second attack, setting an HDP vehicle on fire. The driver, Aydın Taşkesen, remains in life-threatening condition in hospital with severe burns and at least eight broken bones.

‘Organized’ attacks in Diyarbakır

With desperate times calling for desperate measures, assailants staged their most violent attack at Diyarbakır’s İstasyon Square on June 5, detonating two bombs four minutes apart in the midst of HDP supporters, just as Demirtaş was about to appear on stage. According to officials, three people were killed, while 402 were injured, 16 of them seriously.

Suspicion that the bombings were conducted by counter-guerrillas with ties to the government were strengthened by a number of factors that included a circular to public institutions from the governor’s office dated June 2 noting that there “could be fatalities and injuries,” the failure to close the square at night and take necessary precautions, the lack of an explanation as to how the bombing occurred, as well as a gas and water cannon attack by police on HDP supporters as they were carrying away those injured in the attack.