Three Kurdish parties call for boycotting Turkey referendum

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan24) - Three Kurdish political parties in Turkey on Friday appealed to voters to boycott an upcoming referendum on whether to give executive authorities to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kurdistan Democratic Party - North (PDK-Bakur), Kurdistan Socialist Party (PSK) and Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) leaders Sertac Bucak, Mustafa Tek and Mustafa Ozcelik respectively, declared in a joint press conference that the proposed constitutional changes did not meet Kurdish demands.

"The new constitution must recognize legitimate Kurdish rights. It must affirm a federal system [for the country]," said Tek, reading a joint statement in the de facto Kurdish capital of Diyarbakir.

"There should be a peaceful and democratic environment for the constitutional reform. A new constitution must be drafted with the participation of all national components. It must be libertarian and pluralistic," he added, according to a Kurdistan24 reporter

The three parties, among them only PAK being legal, are the first in Turkey to decide on a boycott.

The main pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the smaller Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR) previously called on the Kurds to vote 'no.'

Tek further said that the Turkish state continued to maintain "a policy of denial, assimilation, and violence" toward the Kurds and Kurdistan.

If approved in the April 16 referendum, Erdogan will have powers to dissolve the parliament, declare a state of emergency, issue decrees, form a cabinet, and appoint top bureaucratic and military officials.

"Our choice is clear, we call for a constitution predicated on a federal, democratic system that will bring freedom to Kurdistan," the parties' joint statement read.

The only pro-Kurdish party that has so far announced it will support Erdogan's bid for greater powers is the Islamist Free Cause Party (Huda-Par).

A February survey conducted in 16 Kurdish-majority provinces revealed that only 25 percent of the Kurds would vote yes in the referendum.

Editing by Ava Homa