The main competitor in the next elections in June in Turkey, the Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas, still in prison for political reasons, shakes Erdogan's thoughts a lot. He will not be able to carry out a proper electoral campaign yet, his candidacy is destined to shake up the campaign for the early presidential elections on June 24 in Turkey. The Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas throws the challenge to Recep Tayyip Erdogan directly from a cell in the maximum security prison in Edirne, where he has been held for a year and a half on charges of "terrorism" for allegedly supporting the PKK, which he has always denied. It was precisely during the last presidential elections that 'Kurdish Obama' began to earthquake Turkey's sclerotic political framework, reaching 10% and launching its HDP towards the historic entry into Parliament in 2015. Now, Demirtas tries again. Charismatic leader capable of broadening the consensus for the Kurdish cause to the liberal and progressive component, after the failed coup of July 2016 he was crushed - like tens of thousands of Turks - in the meat grinder of the state of emergency, still in force. Arrested with the elimination of parliamentary immunity, the 45-year-old human rights lawyer has never stopped denouncing Erdogan's authoritarianism, rejecting the accusations made by magistrates as political. During the long months behind bars, he also dedicated himself to his artistic passions, publishing a book of short stories. His interventions, disseminated through lawyers, also continue to attract great attention in independent and international media. The candidacy, according to the HDP, will be publicly announced on Friday at an event simultaneously in Istanbul and Diyarbakir, the Kurdish 'capital' in the south-east of the country. However, it is not excluded that he may receive a sentence a few days before the vote, which would risk cutting him out. In addition to curbing Erdogan's cavalcade, trying to at least force him to run for the presidency, Demirtas's candidacy aims to restore enthusiasm to the opinion electorate which in the last 2 elections allowed the HDP to overcome the barrier-monstrous threshold 10%. With their entry into Parliament, in June 2015 the Kurds had above all prevented the 'Sultan' from having an absolute majority for the first time, forcing him to return to the polls.
