Jailed militant leader tells Kurdish party to be neutral in Istanbul vote: lawyers

Supporters of Kurdistan Workers’ Party carry national flags and pictures of PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan during a demonstration to mark May Day in Beirut. (AFP)

ISTANBUL: Lawyers for jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan confirmed on Friday that he had called on the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to remain neutral ahead of Sunday’s Istanbul election re-run.
Ocalan’s lawyers issued a statement from Ocalan after state-owned Anadolu agency reported late on Thursday that he had made such a call to the HDP, which has supported the opposition against the ruling AK Party of President Tayyip Erdogan.
“The democratic alliance approach of the HDP should not be made a part of current election discussions. The importance of the democratic alliance is that it ... insists on its neutral position in elections,” said Ocalan’s statement, dated June 18.