by ALEV SCOTT
Figen Yuksekdag Senoglu, co-leader of the Turkish political party HDP
Meet Figen Yuksekdag, whose party tries in vain to keep Erdogan honest.
Figen Yuksekda? would be a superstar in a country less suffocated by macho politics.
As co-chair of the party which unexpectedly robbed the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of its ruling majority in June, Yuksekda? is one of the most important politicians in Turkey today. She is also the embodiment of the leftist Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) commitment to gender equality, in a country that ranks 120 of 136 on the Global Gender Gap Index. All positions in the HDP are split between a woman and a man as a matter of policy, but it would be ludicrous to view Yuksekda? as “the token woman.”
Since the age of 17, when she was arrested for the first time in a street protest in southeast Turkey, she earned her political stripes with decades of activism before becoming co-chair of the party at its formation three years ago. She is also the kind of politician who dismisses Tansu Çiller, Turkey’s first — and only — female prime minister, as “a cheap copy of Margaret Thatcher.” It is safe to say Yuksekda? is not a cheap copy of anyone.
Yuksekda? is clearly a fighter, but her fighting spirit is resolutely concentrated on peace at this crucial juncture in Turkish political history. She says around 500 HDP members and supporters have been murdered since June.
“They are trying to take our hope away. But the HDP is the future of Turkey, it is still a child, still growing. They can’t kill our future by killing 500 people. That is why in our election video we repeat the word inad?na [in spite of]. ‘In spite of war, peace. In spite of everything, hope.’”
Yuksekda? is even more impressive in private than she is in public, capable of delivering rhetoric with confidence but also candidly dissecting government tactics, and poking fun at the venal side of politics. Our conversation turns to the AKP’s poster campaign, which has promised cash gifts to mothers on the birth of their babies — the equivalent of €93 for the firstborn, €125 for the second, €187 for the third — in addition to an existing stipend. We both laugh at the absurdity of this, and I ask her whether she thinks women may vote for the AKP as a result of these promises.
“A portion of them will do,” she replies. “Many women in Turkey feel they don’t have the option to break out of their role as a mother or wife, and the AKP is the first party to offer them this money — small as it is. They’re grateful.”
Yuksekda? is sharp enough to know that there is a solid reason behind the AKP’s campaign. “You know why the AKP is trying so hard to attract women voters, don’t you?” According to the leaked minutes of an ultra-confidential AKP strategy meeting, recently published on an opposition news-site that was subsequently blocked, the party lost a significant number of votes from women and young people in June, information which corroborated what the HDP had already guessed.
I ask Yuksekda? whether she expects an angry reaction from Kurds in the southeast if the HDP fails to pass the 10 percent threshold. “If we don’t pass, it will not be the real result,” she says, alluding to increasing concern among the opposition that electoral fraud may come into play on Sunday. “We canceled rallies but we know our support hasn’t dropped.”
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via 3 Quarks Daily