A Kurdish leader and a Kurdish singer featured in Foreign Policy 2015 Global Thinkers

LOS ANGELES, United States—“For dashing Erdogan’s dreams,” Selahattin Demirtas, the Kurdish co-chairman of the People Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey, was featured in the 100 Global Thinkers selected by Foreign Policy (FP).

“For making the Peshmerga’s fight go viral,” Helly Luv, the Kurdish pop singer was featured as one of the 10 selected artists of the year 2015, according to the America magazine FP.

In its seventh annual special issue FP announced 100 decision-makers, challengers, innovators, advocates, artists, healers, stewards, moguls, and chroniclers.  The two Kurdish figures were among the challengers and artists that are helping to heal the world.

Because of his perspectives, abilities, and charisma, Demirtas was nicknamed “Kurdish Obama.” This Kurdish leader is picked this year by FP as a challenger. He is praised for his liberal ideas and for being launched “into Turkey’s political stratosphere, where he seems likely to keep challenging a frustrated Erdogan.”

FP criticizes Erdogan for having tried to cast Demirtas as someone who supports “a terror organization,” while the 42-year-old lawyer proves himself to be a defender of human values such as women’s and gay rights, environmentalism and to be "Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian policies.”

“Great Humanity” is the slogan of HDP party.

In addition to being a popular politician, Demirtas plays music too. He played the saz on a TV show this year which increased the number of his fans.

The notable fact about Demirtas, as pointed out by FP, is that Erdogan tried to use Demirtas’s art against him. “Erdogan dismissed him as a mere pop star.”

FP also notes that in the June election HDP “won enough seats to prevent Erdogan’s party from maintaining its legislative majority.”

The results changed after Turkey called for a new election in October.

The Kurdish politician shares the honour of being one the 100 global thinkers with a Kurdish woman and artist.

Helly Luv is chosen this year for “showing the truth of war” despite the death threats she has received.

“The truth includes the strength of Peshmerga fighters, who’ve been critical in stalling the Islamic State advance,” Luv said.

Although able to record her music in Los Angeles, Luv filmed her video only miles from where the Peshmerga were fighting the Islamic State.

“If I can fight them with my music, then my song is as powerful as, or even more powerful than, their weapons,” Luv is quoted in FP.

In her video that has been watched more than 3 million times, Luv stares down at an Islamic State tank.

She is also quoted for her NBC News interview where she said that she was not afriad for her life, if it meant revealing the truth. “If my life is at risk but I can get the message to millions of people, then that is a privilege.”

Demirtas and Luv are among the 100 people around the world that FP says “have generated ideas that could promise human kind a better future.”