JINHA

NEWS CENTER – With massive rallies from Turkey's western city of Izmir to the eastern city of Iğdır over the weekend, supporters of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) declared their intent to overcome AKP attempts to keep their party out of Parliament in Turkey's June 7th election.

Izmir residents flooded Gündoğdu Square for a 100,000-person rally. The HDP's general co-chair SelahattinDemirtaş and Syriza'sYiannisBournous. As the crowd filled the square, dozens of boats full of HDP supporters crowded the Aegean sea. Theyopened a massive banner at sea reading: "we won't make you President," a message to President Erdoğan.

The day was perhaps the party's largest rally yet in the Aegean city, not traditionally seen as a HDP stronghold. In his speech, SelahattinDemirtaşmentioned the misery women suffer in Turkey. The HDP has issued a comprehensive women's election manifesto to solve problems of femicide, women's exploitation and gender inequality."From now on, if you want to be happy, be in the HDP," the party co-chair said to Turkey's women.

YiannisBournous, of the Syriza central committee, attended the meeting on behalf of party head Alexis Tsipras. Yiannis, releasing a dove before the crowd, brought greetings from Syriza. This was the first time a Greek political party attended an election event for a political party in Turkey. The appearance was meaningful, as the city of Izmir had a large Greek population expelled by the early Turkish state.

The eastern Kurdish province of Iğdır, worlds away from seaside Izmir, held a crowded rally for general co-chair FigenYüksekdağ.Figen mentioned President Erdoğan's recent remark regarding the AKP's waning percentage points in the polls that "we have a plan B and C."

"You have used lots of plans, from A to Z. You have not left any letters in the alphabet," she said. "We have the plan of H, D, P."

In the main Kurdish city of Diyarbakır, Turkey, woman HDP candidates came to a crowded all-women open lectern event in the grass of the city's Koşuyolu Park. Women trekked from across Diyarbakır to take the stage alongside woman candidates and describe their problems.Simit-sellers roaming the crowd of women tapped their simit trays in time to the pre-event music. Women danced traditional Kurdish halay dances in the park before the event began.

"Our children have gone hungry for years. While these politics have impoverished us, some have gotten rich," said voter BesnaFidantek, one of the women voters to take the lectern. She criticized AKP economic policies, saying "we don't want Erdoğan's dirty money."

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