Invitation of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) to the opposition alliance to negotiate support for a single candidate against the President Tayyip Erdogan caused embarrassment in the May elections among the nationalist elements of the motley alliance.

OUR Mithat Sanjarfrom among its leaders HDPthe third largest party in the Turkish parliament extended an invitation last night after the six-party opposition bloc announced that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu would be its overall candidate.

Two representatives of the opposition alliance told Reuters they fear such talks with the HDP. they could undermine support among nationalist voters opposed to his pro-Kurdish stance.

The Constitutional Court is considering an appeal against the HDP over its alleged ties to Kurdish rebels, which the pro-Kurdish party denies and is under threat of a ban.

HDP plays with it the role of the regulator in the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 and it is highly likely that the opposition alliance will need his support to end Erdogan’s twenty-year rule.

Bringing together social democrats, nationalists, secularists and Islamists, the opposition alliance put aside political and ideological differences to support a single candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

At the same time, Mithat Sancar invited the bloc to talks that could pave the way for support for the HDP Kilicdaroglu.

“Our goal is democracy, justice, freedom. Basically, we want to talk about the principles“, he told the Haberturk network.

A spokesman for the opposition alliance told Reuters that Sancar’s invitation came “a little prematurely,” adding that the question of supporting the HDP would be the opposition’s biggest concern.

“Open support for the HDP will provoke a backlash, mainly from the IYI party and its base,” he said, referring to the nationalist party, which is the second largest in the opposition alliance.

“Support for the HDP is extremely important,” he said, adding that it could undermine support elsewhere.

Another spokesman for another coalition party said that public support for the HDP would reduce IYI’s share by five percentage points and CHP by 2-3 percentage points.

Some polls show that the opposition alliance is ahead of the coalition of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party and the nationalist MHP, but by a small margin. The HDP receives 10% of the vote.

“Delicate Balance”

In his speech yesterday, Kemal Kilicdaroglu did not mention the HDP and said that the remaining five parties would help secure the election victory.

“There is a very delicate balance to be struck here. Otherwise, there will be a price,” said a second party official. “The votes gained from the HDP could be equal to the votes lost by the alliance.”

As part of his campaign, Erdogan is expected to make accusations of HDP links to Kurdish rebels and the role of the pro-Kurdish party in the opposition, analysts said.

Although the timing of the decision by the Constitutional Court is not known, HDP’s request to postpone the decision until after the elections was rejected. The Constitutional Court has already frozen the party’s accounts.

A second spokesman for the opposition alliance said that some Kurdish voters would not support the alliance due to IYI’s involvement.

Sanjar stated that the HDP has played a key role in creating political balance in Turkey and this should be acknowledged openly and not behind closed doors. He added that no progress had been made since the presentation of his political platform in September.

The HDP had previously hinted that it would nominate its candidate if there were no negotiations, but Sancar said the party was reconsidering its position after the February 6 earthquake.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.