DEM Party
Pro-Kurdish left-wing Turkish party, the de facto successor to the HDP since 2023.
On 27 October 2026 DEM Party members voted against ratifying the Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in committee, one of four smaller opposition parties to do so.
Last refreshed: 29 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for DEM Party
Voted against the ratification bill
Iran Conflict 2026: Turkish MPs back Mecca pact in committeeBackground
The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, known as the DEM Party, took its present name on 15 October 2023. It is the legal successor to the Green Left Party and took over the active political work of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). It is pro-Kurdish and left-wing.
Tülay Hatimoğulları Oruç and Tuncer Bakırhan co-chair it, and it holds about 56 of the 600 seats in the Grand national assembly. That makes it the main Kurdish party in Parliament and the largest of the smaller opposition groups.
Its vote against the Mecca pact set Turkey's main Kurdish party against a mutual defence pledge with Riyadh and Islamabad. The committee also rejected the opposition's motions for a sub-committee review.
What is the DEM Party in Turkey?
Who leads the DEM Party?
How did the DEM Party vote on the Mecca defence pact?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 29 October 2026. Editorial standards.