ANKARA
The Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, which is contesting the upcoming general election on June 7, submitted its final candidate list to Turkey’s Supreme Election Board on Tuesday, the last day for such submissions.
"The left-victory of Syriza in Greece and the resistance of the Kurdish people for freedom in Kobani, all these developments have increased the hopes for a left victory in Turkey," said Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the Peoples' Democratic Party, last month in Istanbul.
The party named 268 women candidates, the largest number of all other parties. Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat , a former ruling party deputy, was nominated as an HDP candidate, and the party will hold a press conference Friday to announce details of final lists.
The HDP will contest the election as a party for the first time, despite concerns that they will not win the 10 percent of votes which political parties in the country need in order to win representation at the parliament.
The HDP decision-making committee also put two-term limits for deputies at most for serving as MPs.
In the 2011 general election, the current HDP lawmakers were chosen as independents. However, the HDP was established in 2012 and before this, the HDP representatives had stood for election in a party it was linked to, the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP.
The independent candidates had received around 6.57 percent of the votes, which corresponds to around 3 million votes.
About 56 million Turkish citizens will vote on June 7, in the country's 25th general elections, to elect the 550 members of the parliament.
Some 54,812,423 people are registered to vote in Turkey while 1,103,258 people will be able to cast their votes outside the country.
