The Free Cause Party (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: ''Hür Dava Partisi'', abbreviated as HÜDA PAR, ) is

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Kurdish Islamist political party in Turkey.

Origin

Following the decision to end armed struggle in 2002, activists of the Hizbullah's Menzil group founded an association called "Solidarity with the Oppressed" ( tr, Mustazaflar ile Dayanışma Derneği or short Mustazaf Der) in 2003. It also became known as the Movement of the Oppressed (

: ''Mustazaflar Hareketi''). On 18 April 2010 Mustazaf Der organized a mass meeting in Diyarbakır to celebrate the anniversary of the Islamic prophet Muhammad’s birthday (known as

Mawlid Mawlid, Mawlid an-Nabi ash-Sharif or Eid Milad un Nabi ( ar, المولد النبوي, translit=mawlid an-nabawī, lit=Birth of the Prophet, sometimes simply called in colloquial Arabic , , among other vernacular pronunciations; sometimes , ) ...

). The Turkish police estimated that the event was attended by 2 million people. The organizers put the figure at over 2.5 million people. On 20 April 2010 a court in Diyarbakır ordered the closure of the Association for the Oppressed (Mustazaf-Der) on the grounds that it was “conducting activities on behalf of the terrorist organization Hizbollah.” The decision was confirmed by the Court of Cassation on 11 May 2012. In late 2012, the Movement of the Oppressed announced its will to found a political party, basically to challenge the hegemony of the left-wing and

Kurdish nationalist Kurdish nationalism (, ) is a nationalist political movement which asserts that Kurds are a nation and espouses the creation of an independent Kurdistan from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Early Kurdish nationalism had its roots in the Ottoman ...

Peace and Democracy Party. On 17 December 2012, the Free Cause Party (''Hür Dava Partisi'') was founded. On 9 January 2013 the general headquarters in Ankara was opened. Societies affiliated with Hüda-Par operate under the umbrella organisation Lovers of Prophet ('','' ) particularly active in Kurdish Mawlid meetings.

Aims of the party

Hüda-Par calls for the constitutional recognition of the Kurds and Kurdish language, mother tongue education, the end to the 10 percent election threshold, and the decentralization of state power and strengthening of local administration. The party also advocates for restrictions on the freedom of religion and worship to be lifted, the headscarf ban ended, wants adultery criminalized, and religious marriages to be recognized. Moreover, the party demands that the Turkish state apologizes to Kurds and reinstate the original names of Kurdish-populated places. The party has largely been silent on the question of Kurdish autonomy or independence from Turkey.

Elections

Provincial results (2015 and 2018)

References

{{Kurdish parties in Turkey 2012 establishments in Turkey Far-right political parties in Turkey Islamic democratic political parties Islamic political parties in Turkey Kurdish political parties in Turkey Political parties established in 2012 Political parties in Turkey Sunni Islamic political parties Kurdish Islamism