The ΒιΆΉΣ³» Party (YeΕil Sol Parti) campaign in the May 14 Turkish general election was launched in Lidcombe in western Sydney on April 22 in a large gathering mainly of Turkish citizens living in Australia.
In a bid to circumvent the risk of a possible closure ahead of the elections, the left-wing and pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) decided to participate in theseΒ elections under the banner of the ΒιΆΉΣ³» Party, one of its constituent parties when it was formed.
The ΒιΆΉΣ³» Party's manifesto βWe Are Here, Together We Will Bring Changeβ pledges to replace the current presidential system of governance with a democratic system that features a pluralistic parliament with broad powers, a robust separation of powers and an effective system of checks and balances. It also aims to seek a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue.
The Sydney launch was addressed by ΒιΆΉΣ³» Party Co-spokesperson ΓiΔdem KΔ±lΔ±Γ§gΓΌn UΓ§ar (via video link), Sydney ΒιΆΉΣ³» Party representative Kenan Bircan, Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge (via video), Reverend Bill Crews, Peter Boyle from Socialist Alliance and Claudia Taranto from PEN Sydney.
KΔ±lΔ±Γ§gΓΌn UΓ§ar said that this a "critical election" especially for the Kurds and other minorities in Turkey who had suffered persecution, discrimination and exclusion for many decades. As a result, she added, these groups had been campaigning in the streets for the ΒιΆΉΣ³» Party with great enthusiasm.