The Free Cause Party (, HÜDA PAR) is a Kurdish

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Islamist political party in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It is centered in the city of

Batman, Turkey Batman (; ) is a city and capital of Batman District in Batman Province, Turkey. It lies on a plateau, above sea level, near the confluence of the Batman River and the Tigris and had a population of 452,157 in 2021. It is populated by Kurds. ...

History

Roots

Following the decision to end armed struggle in 2002, activists of the Hizbullah's Menzil group founded an association called "Solidarity with the Oppressed" ( or short Mustazaf-Der) in 2003. It also became known as the Movement of the Oppressed (). On 18 April 2010, Mustazaf Der organized a mass meeting in

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

to celebrate the anniversary of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

's birthday (known as

Mawlid The Mawlid () is an annual festival commemorating the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad on the traditional date of 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar. A day central to the traditions of some Sunnis, Mawlid is al ...

). 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 A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

on 11 May 2012. In late 2012, the Movement of the Oppressed announced its will to found a political party, to challenge the hegemony of the left-wing and Kurdish nationalist 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 Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

was opened. Societies affiliated with HÜDA PAR operate under the umbrella organisation Lovers of the Prophet ('','' ) particularly active in Kurdish Mawlid meetings. The party supported the ruling People's Alliance in the elections of 2023. The party cooperated with AKP in some cities in the local elections of 2024.

Ideology and policies

The party has been described as "an extreme Islamist party" and as "the political wing of the Iranian-backed Kurdish Hizbullah". The Association for Solidarity with Mustazafs ( Turkish: ''Oppressed'') (Mustazaf-Der) was established in 2004 to support those arrested and their families as a result of the police operation named as Beykoz Operation targeting Hezbollah. The association was closed in 2012 on the grounds that it was a continuation of Hezbollah. After the association was closed, then, since it was difficult to close political parties in Turkey, Movement of the Oppressed (') continued its activities by founding the Free Cause Party. Free Cause Party calls for the constitutional recognition of the

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

and

Kurdish language Kurdish (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language or dialect continuum, group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkish Kurdistan, Turkey, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, Ira ...

, 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 apologize 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. The party is opposed to LGBT rights, and routinely denounces the HDP, a left-wing party supporting Kurdish minority rights, for supporting it. Despite forming from a splinter group that made promises to end armed struggle, third-party sources describe the party as strongly affiliated with the Kurdish Hezbollah. The party denies these allegations as they have condemned violence multiple times and rejected any links with militant groups. Some have pointed out that the party's abbreviation, "Hüda-Par", is synonymous with "Hezbollah", both meaning "Party of God". The party accuse allegations of terrorism against HÜDA PAR and DEM Party as unlawful.

Elections

The party supported Erdoğan in the 2018 presidential elections and again in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. Since its creation in 2012, HÜDA PAR has contested the two parliamentary elections of June 2015 and 2018, while it chose not to run for the November 2015 elections. The party entered the

2023 Turkish general election General elections were held in Turkey on 14 May 2023, combining 2023 Turkish presidential election, presidential elections and 2023 Turkish parliamentary election, parliamentary elections to elect 600 members of the Grand National Assembly of Tu ...

as part of the Justice and Development Party list. Four Free Cause Party members of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

were elected. In 2024 Turkish local elections, the party supported candidates of Justice and Development Party in major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir. The party showed its strongest performance in the cities of Batman and Bingöl, gathering more than 10 percent of the votes.

Election results

Provincial results (2015 and 2018)

Notes

References

{{Kurdish parties in Turkey 2012 establishments in Turkey Far-right political parties in Turkey Islamic nationalism Islamic political parties in Turkey Kurdish Islamic organisations Kurdish Islamism Kurdish political parties in Turkey Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Turkey Political parties established in 2012 Political parties in Turkey Social conservative parties Sunni Islamic political parties