Free Cause Party

Free Cause Party (Turkish: Hür Dava Partisi, abbreviated as Hüda-Par, Kurdish: Partiya Doza Azadî‎) is Sunni Kurdish Islamist political party in Turkey.

Free Cause Party Hür Dava Partisi
Leader	Mehmet Yavuz
Founded	17 December 2012
Headquarters	Ehl-i Beyt Mah. Ceyhun Atıf Kansu Cad. Nehir Apt. No: 117-5 Balgat, Çankaya, Ankara
Ideology	Islamism Recognition of Kurdish rights
Political position	Far-right
Religion	Sunni Islam
European affiliation	none
International affiliation	none
Colours	Green, Yellow, White
Parliament:	0 / 600
Metropolitan municipalities:	0 / 30
District municipalities:	0 / 1,351
Provincial councillors:	0 / 1,251
Municipal Assemblies	6 / 20,498
Website
hudapar.org
Politics of Turkey Political parties Elections

Origin

Following the decision to end armed struggle in 2002, activists of the Hizbullah's Menzil group founded an association called "Solidarity with the Oppressed" (Turkish: Mustazaflar ile Dayanışma Derneği or short Mustazaf Der) in 2003.[1] It also became known as the Movement of the Oppressed (Turkish: Mustazaflar Hareketi). On 18 April 2010 Mustazaf Der organized a mass meeting in Diyarbakır to celebrate the anniversary of the Islamic prophet Muhammad’s birthday (known as Mawlid). The Turkish police estimated that the event was attended by 2 million people. The organizers put the figure at over 2.5 million people.[2]

On 20 April 2010 a court in Diyarbakır ordered the closure of the Association for the Oppressed (Mustazaf-Der) on the grounds that it was “conducting activities on behalf of the terrorist organization Hizbollah.”[2] The decision was confirmed by the Court of Cassation on 11 May 2012.[3]

In late 2012, the Movement of the Oppressed announced its will to found a political party, basically to challenge the hegemony of the left-wing and Kurdish nationalist Peace and Democracy Party.[4] On 17 December 2012, the Free Cause Party (Hür Dava Partisi) was founded.[5] On 9 January 2013 the general headquarters in Ankara was opened.[6]

Societies affiliated with Hüda-Par operate under the umbrella organisation Lovers of Prophet (Turkish: Peygamber Sevdalıları, Kurdish: Evindarên Pêyxamber‎) particularly active in Kurdish Mawlid meetings.[7]

Aims of the party

Hüda-Par calls for the constitutional recognition of the Kurds and Kurdish language, mother tongue education, the end to the 10 percent election threshold, and the decentralization of state power and strengthening of local administration.[8] The party also advocates for restrictions on the freedom of religion and worship to be lifted, the headscarf ban ended, wants adultery criminalized, and religious marriages to be recognized.[9] Moreover, the party demands that the Turkish state apologizes to Kurds and reinstate the original names of Kurdish-populated places.[10] The party has largely been silent on the question of Kurdish autonomy or independence from Turkey.[11]

Elections

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Election	Leader	Votes			Seats		Government
		#	%	Rank	#	±
June 2015	Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu	70,121[12][13]	0.16%	11	0 / 550	–	AKP
2018	Mehmet Yavuz	155,539	0.31%	7th	0 / 600	–	AKP

Provincial results (2015 and 2018)

Votes obtained by Hüda-Par in the general elections of 2015 and 2018 by province[13]

Province 2015 Percent 2018 Percent Adana 3,118 0.3% 6,992 0.5% Adıyaman — — 4,249 1.3% Afyon — — 977 0.2% Ağrı — — 1,731 0.8% Aksaray — — 639 0.3% Amasya — — 359 0.2% Ankara — — 3,724 0.1% Antalya — — 3,131 0.2% Ardahan — — 203 0.4% Artvin — — 325 0.3% Aydın — — 1,795 0.3% Balıkesir — — 1,500 0.2% Bartın — — 345 0.3% Batman 14,551 5.5% 15,998 5.6% Bayburt — — 77 0.2% Bilecik — — 454 0.3% Bingöl 5,424 4.2% 6,296 4.5% Bitlis 1,709 1.1% 1,809 1.1% Bolu — — 374 0.2% Burdur — — 564 0.3% Bursa — — 4,426 0.1% Çanakkale — — 699 0.2% Çankırı — — 203 0.2% Çorum — — 620 0.2% Denizli — — 1,714 0.3% Diyarbakır 27,537 3.4% 35,239 4.3% Düzce — — 303 0.1% Edirne — — 607 0.2% Elazığ — — 5,197 1.5% Erzincan — — 138 0.1% Erzurum — — 833 0.2% Eskişehir — — 758 0.1% Gaziantep — — 8,703 0.9% Giresun — — 802 0.3% Gümüşhane — — 220 0.3% Hakkari — — 792 0.6% Hatay — — 1,511 0.2% Iğdır — — 198 0.2% Isparta — — 710 0.3% Istanbul — — 16,600 0.1% Izmir — — 4,725 0.1% Kahramanmaraş — — 1,531 0.2% Karabük — — 323 0.2% Karaman — — 356 0.2% Kars — — 424 0.3% Kastamonu — — 727 0.3% Kayseri — — 1,479 0.2% Kırıkkale — — 292 0.2% Kırklareli — — 358 0.1% Kırşehir — — 254 0.2% Kilis — — 177 0.2% Kocaeli — — 1,843 0.2% Konya — — 2,787 0.2% Kütahya — — 811 0.2% Malatya — — 1,619 0.3% Manisa — — 2,545 0.3% Mardin 5,312 1.4% 8,253 2.1% Mersin — — 4,486 0.4% Muğla — — 1,378 0.2% Muş — — 2,784 1.5% Nevşehir — — 551 0.3% Niğde — — 443 0.2% Ordu — — 1,244 0.3% Osmaniye — — 1,157 0.4% Rize — — 228 0.1% Sakarya — — 856 0.1% Samsun — — 1,218 0.1% Siirt — — 1,776 1.2% Sinop — — 444 0.3% Sivas — — 532 0.1% Şanlıurfa 6,551 0.9% 13,495 1.6% Şırnak 2,826 1.3% 4,847 2.1% Tekirdağ — — 904 0.1% Tokat — — 615 0.2% Trabzon — — 615 0.1% Tunceli — — 57 0.1% Uşak — — 604 0.3% Van 3,093 0.6% 4,753 0.9% Yalova — — 286 0.2% Yozgat — — 443 0.2% Zonguldak — — 815 0.2%

References

1. "Hizbullah: Tebliğ, Cemaat, Cihat". Bianet. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
2. Jenkins, Gareth (15 June 2010). "A New Front in the PKK Insurgency". ETH Zürich. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
3. "Mustazaf-Der resmen kapatıldı!". Time Türk (in Turkish). 15 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
4. "Hüda-Par'ın rakibi BDP mi, AK Parti'mi?". Time Türk (in Turkish). 6 December 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
5. "Hür Dava Partisi (Hüda-Par) Resmen Kuruldu". Haber Diyarbakir (in Turkish). 17 December 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
6. "Genel Merkez Açılış Töreni Gerçekleştirildi" (in Turkish). 9 January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
7. Kurt, Mehmet (2017). Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey - Islamism, violence and the state. London: PlutoPress. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-7453-9934-8.
8. "Turkey: Islamist Kurds enter politics to divide AKP, BDP electorate in the Southeast". Foreign Policy Journal. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
9. "Parti Programımız" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
10. Kurt, Mehmet (2017). Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey - Islamism, violence and the state. London: PlutoPress. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-7453-9934-8.
11. Emel Elif Tugdar; Serhun Al (2017). Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East: Actors, Ideas, and Interests. Springer. p. 127. ISBN 9783319537153.
12. "Hüda- Par'dan 9 ilde bağımsız aday". Al Jazeera Turk - Ortadoğu, Kafkasya, Balkanlar, Türkiye ve çevresindeki bölgeden son dakika haberleri ve analizler (in Turkish). Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
13. "Sandık Sonuçları ve Tutanaklar (YSK)" (in Turkish). YSK. Retrieved 10 April 2020.