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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" (Turkish: Mustazaflar ile Dayanışma Derneği or short Mustazaf-Der) in 2003.²³ It also became known as the Movement of the Oppressed (Turkish: 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). The Turkish police estimated that the event was attended by 2 million people. The organizers put the figure at over 2.5 million people.⁴

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.”⁵ The decision was confirmed by the Court of Cassation on 11 May 2012.⁶

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.⁷ On 17 December 2012, the Free Cause Party (Hür Dava Partisi) was founded.⁸ On 9 January 2013, the general headquarters in Ankara was opened.⁹

Societies affiliated with HÜDA PAR operate under the umbrella organisation Lovers of the Prophet (Turkish: Peygamber Sevdalıları, Kurdish: Evindarên Pêyxamber) particularly active in Kurdish Mawlid meetings.¹⁰

The party supported the ruling People's Alliance in the elections of 2023.¹¹ 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".¹²¹³ 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 (Turkish: Mustazaflar Hareketi) continued its activities by founding the Free Cause Party.¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶

Free Cause Party 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.¹⁷ 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.¹⁸ Moreover, the party demands that the Turkish state apologize to Kurds and reinstate the original names of Kurdish-populated places.¹⁹ The party has largely been silent on the question of Kurdish autonomy or independence from Turkey.²⁰ The party is opposed to LGBT rights, and routinely denounces the HDP, a left-wing party supporting Kurdish minority rights, for supporting it.²¹²² 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.²³²⁴²⁵ The party denies these allegations as they have condemned violence multiple times and rejected any links with militant groups.²⁶ Some[who?] have pointed out that the party's abbreviation, "Hüda-Par", is synonymous with "Hezbollah", both meaning "Party of God".²⁷ The party accuse allegations of terrorism against HÜDA PAR and DEM Party as unlawful.²⁸

Elections

The party supported Erdoğan in the 2018 presidential elections and again in 2023.²⁹³⁰ 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.³¹ The party entered the 2023 Turkish general election as part of the Justice and Development Party list.³² Four Free Cause Party members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey were elected.³³ 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.³⁴

Election results

Provincial results (2015 and 2018)

See also

• List of Islamic political parties
• 2023 Adana attack

Notes

References

1. Hüdâ translates to "God", or perhaps more accurately "The Lord", a substitution for the word Allah.[23] Therefore, the party's self-styled abbreviation reads "Party of God". /wiki/Allah ↩

2. Not to be confused with Kurdish Revolutionary Hezbollah or Kurdish Hezbollah of Iran. /wiki/Kurdish_Revolutionary_Hezbollah ↩

3. "Hizbullah: Tebliğ, Cemaat, Cihat". Bianet. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2020. http://bianet.org/biamag/toplum/145800-hizbullah-teblig-cemaat-cihat ↩

4. Jenkins, Gareth (15 June 2010). "A New Front in the PKK Insurgency". ETH Zürich. Retrieved 22 May 2020. https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/117499 ↩

5. Jenkins, Gareth (15 June 2010). "A New Front in the PKK Insurgency". ETH Zürich. Retrieved 22 May 2020. https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/117499 ↩

6. "Mustazaf-Der resmen kapatıldı!". Time Türk (in Turkish). 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20230225171144/https://www.timeturk.com/tr/2012/05/11/mustazaf-der-resmen-kapatildi.html ↩

7. "Hüda-Par'ın rakibi BDP mi, AK Parti'mi?". Time Türk (in Turkish). 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20230225171146/https://www.timeturk.com/tr/2012/12/06/partilesen-hizbullah-cemaatinin-yapisi-degil.html ↩

8. "Hür Dava Partisi (Hüda-Par) Resmen Kuruldu". Haber Diyarbakir (in Turkish). 17 December 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054928/http://www.haberdiyarbakir.com/hur-dava-partisi-huda-par-resmen-kuruldu-55761h/ ↩

9. "Genel Merkez Açılış Töreni Gerçekleştirildi" (in Turkish). 9 January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20130128124754/http://www.hudapar.org/icerik_detay.asp?id=127 ↩

10. Kurt, Mehmet (2017). Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey - Islamism, violence and the state. London: PlutoPress. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-7453-9934-8. 978-0-7453-9934-8 ↩

11. "HÜDA-Par'dan Cumhur İttifakı'na destek". www.dunya.com. Retrieved 2023-06-04. https://www.dunya.com/gundem/huda-pardan-cumhur-ittifakina-destek-haberi-688020 ↩

12. Girit, Selin (11 May 2023). "Turkey elections: Young voters who could decide Turkey's future". BBC News. Istanbul. Retrieved 12 May 2023. One of the party's in his People's Alliance is an extreme Islamist party called Huda Par (Free Cause) and that has raised concerns among female MPs in his own AK Party. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65533680 ↩

13. Kenez, Levent (30 March 2023). "Contradictions in the number of naturalized citizens may cast a shadow over Turkish elections". Nordic Monitor. Retrieved 12 May 2023. For example, President Erdoğan is cooperating with the Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR), the political wing of the Iranian-backed Turkish Hizbullah. https://nordicmonitor.com/2023/03/contradictions-in-the-number-of-naturalized-citizens-may-cast-a-shadow-over-turkish-elections/ ↩

14. Erkin, Aytunç (30 March 2023). "Beykoz'daki Hizbullah Operasyonunu Yöneten Emniyet Müdürü Niyazi Palabıyık ilk kez konuştu ve isyan etti". Sözcü Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-05-19. https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2023/yazarlar/aytunc-erkin/beykozdaki-hizbullah-operasyonunu-yoneten-emniyet-muduru-niyazi-palabiyik-ilk-kez-konustu-ve-isyan-etti-7637357/ ↩

15. "Mustazaf-Der 10 yıl sonra yeniden açıldı". www.rudaw.net. 11 September 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-19. https://www.rudaw.net/turkish/middleeast/turkey/110920224 ↩

16. Dinî-Sosyal Teşekküller, Geleneksel Dinî-Kültürel Oluşumlar ve Yeni Dinî Yönelişler (in Turkish). Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı. pp. 122–125. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49058518-din--sosyal-te-ekk-ller-geleneksel-din--k-lt-rel-olu-umlar-ve-yeni-din ↩

17. "Turkey: Islamist Kurds enter politics to divide AKP, BDP electorate in the Southeast". Foreign Policy Journal. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2020. https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/01/31/turkey-islamist-kurds-enter-politics-to-divide-akp-bdp-electorate-in-the-southeast/ ↩

18. "Parti Programımız" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20130326031350/http://hudapar.org/icerik.asp?link=pprogram ↩

19. Kurt, Mehmet (2017). Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey - Islamism, violence and the state. London: PlutoPress. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-7453-9934-8. 978-0-7453-9934-8 ↩

20. Emel Elif Tugdar; Serhun Al (2017). Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East: Actors, Ideas, and Interests. Springer. p. 127. ISBN 9783319537153. 9783319537153 ↩

21. "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023. https://t24.com.tr/haber/huda-pardan-escinsellere-yonelik-nefret-soylemi-ve-hdpye-tehdit,243011 ↩

22. "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023. https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/siyaset/tugce-kazazdan-huda-para-lgbt-tesekkuru-1981297 ↩

23. "Hizbullah: Tebliğ, Cemaat, Cihat". Bianet. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2020. http://bianet.org/biamag/toplum/145800-hizbullah-teblig-cemaat-cihat ↩

24. "Turkey's ruling alliance welcomes Islamist parties with misogynist agendas - Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-07. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/03/turkeys-ruling-alliance-welcomes-islamist-parties-misogynist-agendas ↩

25. Aydıntaşbaş, Aslı (2023-04-04). "Letter from Istanbul: Turkey has difficult years ahead". Brookings. Retrieved 2023-04-07. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2023/04/04/letter-from-istanbul-turkey-has-difficult-years-ahead/ ↩

26. "HÜDA PAR lideri Yapıcıoğlu'dan 'Hizbullah' açıklaması: Onlarca defa cevapladık". Rudaw (in Turkish). 26 March 2023. https://www.rudaw.net/turkish/middleeast/turkey/2603202315 ↩

27. "HÜDA PAR: Yerelde özerklik, kanunda şeriat". Aposto (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-06-13. https://aposto.com/s/huda-par-yerelde-ozerklik-kanunda-seriat ↩

28. "'HÜDA-PAR Hizbullah'ın, DEM Parti de PKK'nin yaptıklarının sorumlusu değil'". Rudaw (in Turkish). 29 February 2024. https://www.rudaw.net/turkish/middleeast/turkey/2902202419 ↩

29. "Fundamentalist Islamist Party Hüda Par to Support Erdoğan". Bianet. 28 May 2018. http://bianet.org/english/politics/197609-fundamentalist-islamist-party-huda-par-to-support-erdogan ↩

30. "Huda-Par to support Erdogan in presidential election". Gercek News. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023. https://www.gerceknews.com/turkey/huda-par-to-support-erdogan-in-presidential-election-219185h ↩

31. "Hüda Par seçime katılmıyor". Gazete Vahdet. 17 September 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081309/http://www.gazetevahdet.com/huda-par-secime-katilmiyor-32324h.htm ↩

32. "HÜDA-PAR Cumhur İttifakı'na katıldı". Tele1 (in Turkish). 24 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023. https://tele1.com.tr/huda-par-cumhur-ittifakina-katildi-2-811904/ ↩

33. Letsch, Constanze (2023-05-29). "Erdoğan and his hardline allies have won Turkey – women and LGBTQ+ people will pay the price". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-05-31. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/29/recep-tayyip-erdogan-turkey-election-women-civil-society ↩

34. "HÜDA PAR doğuda oylarını arttırdı". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 6 April 2024. https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/huda-par-doguda-oylarini-artirdi-2192055 ↩

35. "Hüda- Par'dan 9 ilde bağımsız aday". Al Jazeera Turk - Ortadoğu, Kafkasya, Balkanlar, Türkiye ve çevresindeki bölgeden son dakika haberleri ve analizler (in Turkish). Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 April 2020. http://www.aljazeera.com.tr/haber/huda-pardan-9-ilde-bagimsiz-aday ↩

36. "Sandık Sonuçları ve Tutanaklar (YSK)" (in Turkish). YSK. Retrieved 10 April 2020. https://sonuc.ysk.gov.tr/sorgu ↩

37. "Sandık Sonuçları ve Tutanaklar (YSK)" (in Turkish). YSK. Retrieved 10 April 2020. https://sonuc.ysk.gov.tr/sorgu ↩