Turkey: HDP co-leader Demirtas casts his election ballot

Turkish co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas cast his ballot at the Mevlana elementary school in Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul, Sunday, after polling stations across the country opened for the parliamentary elections. A large crowd of supporters of the HDP gathered at the entrance of the polling station to cheer Demirtas on his arrival and departure. After voting, the HDP leader expressed that it has been a "hard election campaign period for us" given that they "lost some friends" and recalled those "who passed away for the sake of freedom, peace and democracy." Up to 54 million people eligible to vote headed to the 175,000 polling stations across the country to decide whether the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will achieve more seats than the 258 they obtained in the June elections. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP had always won a majority in each election since 2002 before June, when they lost the majority they had always previously held. Nevertheless, Demirtas's HDP is expected to achieve better results after a tense electoral campaign that was shaken by some attacks on Turkey's Kurdish population. The general election is taking place in 85 electoral districts, electing 550 members to the Grand National Assembly.