Turkey’s 4 major parties nominate Armenian candidates for parliamentary election

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey’s four major political parties, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), all of which have a group in Parliament, are expected to nominate Armenian candidate hopefuls in the upcoming general elections slated for June 12.

According to Today’s Zaman, the BDP had already announced it would support an Armenian candidate, İsmet Şahin, from Istanbul’s second electoral district, where many non-Muslims live. While Melkon Karaköse, a businessman who served as chair of the Foundation of the Surp Kevork Church, and Herman Balyan applied to the AK Party seeking parliamentary nomination, Arev Cebeci, another Turkish citizen of Armenian descent who until recently served in the Bakırköy Municipality as a CHP representative, is seeking nomination from the CHP. Keğam Garabetyan is seeking a nomination from the MHP; Garabetyan was a nominee for the MHP in the 2007 elections but was not elected. Karaköse said he has been a member of the AK Party for two years and expects the Armenian community to vote for the AK Party. “There are other friends who seek nominations from other parties, but I don’t think the Armenian community will divide their vote as there is much appreciation for the AK Party among our community. The AK Party has made great efforts, particularly in the passage of the Foundations Law [which returned property confiscated from non-Muslim minority foundations],” he explained.

The CHP’s Cebeci said as a person who has been closely observing the problems of the Armenian community in Turkey, he wants to bring these issues to Parliament. The BDP’s Şahin, who is an Armenian from Artvin, said he has discussed his nomination with some people from the Armenian community but added that he has no links to any religious groups within the Armenian community.