HDP MP Garo Paylan says lack of Armenian MP candidate is a ‘shortcoming’

Turkey’s only Armenian deputy Garo Paylan is not running as a MP candidate in the elections due to the HDP’s strict two-term rule. Paylan said that although the lack of an Armenian MP candidate in the parties’ lists is a “shortcoming,” this issue should be focused on after the elections.

Wednesday April 19 2023 10:23 pm

Duvar English

Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) Armenian deputy Garo Paylan has said that the lack of an Armenian deputy candidate is a “shortcoming” and that there was a demand from the public for him to run as a parliamentarian once again.

The HDP did not include Paylan, the only Armenian deputy in parliament, in the MP candidate list due to the party’s two-term rule which says that a parliamentarian can run at most for two terms. Paylan said in an interview with Artı Gerçek on April 18 that a “positive discrimination could have been implemented” with regards to his case as “millions of Armenians in Turkey and the world were in consensus that I continue.”

In a new interview with Kısa Dalga on April 19, Paylan said: “There was a serious demand for me to continue…This could not be ensured and I see the reason as follows: our party is a union of alliances; we have many alliances and in the new period, we are in search of new alliances. I am of the opinion that within these discussions, there was not sufficient focus on this issue.”

“This is a shortcoming. And I and my colleagues will try to tackle this shortcoming. Let’s not look at the issue just as a parliamentary group. Let’s look at it as a political institution….Of course, there can be shortcomings and resentment, but now we need to focus on our election success on May 14. We have other candidates; for their success, we need to focus. Putting this shortcoming in parenthesis, we need to leave this issue to after May 14 (elections), with regards to how we can tackle and discuss it.”

He said that although some people have been “neglected” and not included in the deputy candidate lists, “it is time to leave aside these resentments.” “This election is the election to end the one-man regime and at the same time to send to the parliament people whom we think believe in democracy at most. If we can succeed in both of these, we will start a new period.”