2018 Selahattin Demirtaş presidential campaign

Selahattin Demirtaş was officially announced as the candidate of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) on 4 May 2018, after members of the party had hinted at his candidacy weeks in advance.^{[citation needed]} Party leader Pervin Buldan declared that Demirtaş, a jailed former co-chair of the HDP, would be leading a five-party "Kurdish alliance" into the general election.^[1]

Selahattin Demirtaş for President

Campaigned for	2018 Turkish presidential election
Candidate	Selahattin Demirtaş Former chairman of the HDP (2014-2018) Presidential candidate for the 2014 presidential election (2014) The former leader of the BDP (2010-2014)
Affiliation	HDP[lower-alpha 1]
Status	Announced 25 Apr 2018 Official nominee 4 May 2018

Program

Selahattin Demirtaş's campaign being launched outside Edirne prison where he is incarcerated, 25 May

• Defending “No” for the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum
  • 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey
    (Full details)
• More Minority and Women’s rights
• Building a country without Capitalism
• The support of Turkish membership of the European Union

Foreign policy

On European Union–Turkey relations, Demirtaş is known for his long-time support for Turkey’s EU accession process, focusing on the pledge to uphold human rights, local democracy, separation of powers and the rule of law as the main tenets of his future presidency. He distinguishes himself from other candidates in his unwavering criticism of what he sees as Brussels's neo-liberal economic agenda.^[2]

Election Result

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Justice and Development Party	26,330,823	52.59
	Muharrem İnce	Republican People's Party	15,340,321	30.64
	Selahattin Demirtaş	Peoples' Democratic Party	4,205,794	8.40
	Meral Akşener	Good Party	3,649,030	7.29
	Temel Karamollaoğlu	Felicity Party	443,704	0.89
	Doğu Perinçek	Patriotic Party	98,955	0.20
Total			50,068,627	100.00
Valid votes			50,068,627	97.79
Invalid/blank votes			1,129,332	2.21
Total votes			51,197,959	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			59,367,469	86.24
Source: YSK

Party Representation

Notes

1. Supported by the left-wing political parties and groups of the HDK

References

1. "HDP nominates imprisoned former leader Demirtaş for presidency". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
2. Doğa Ulaş Eralp (30 May 2018). "What do Turkey's other presidential candidates think about the EU?". Ahval. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2018.