JINHA

NEWS CENTER – The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has announced that they will go ahead with the election rally planned for today in the city of Mersin, where a bomb exploded in the party's election office earlier today.

This morning, several hours after a massive HDP rally in the city of Adana and with another election rally planned in the nearby city of Mersin for today, two bombs went off simultaneously in the elections offices in the respective cities.

"We will be at the rally in Mersin today at 17:00," wrote Selahattin Demirtaş, general co-chair of the party, on Twitter, several hours ago. "We'll be more enthusiastic, more joyful, and we'll have higher morale. We're expecting everyone." The day before the bomb attack, the party leader had criticized the ruling AKP government and President Erdoğan at a rally in Adana. Hesaid they were targeting the HDP, which is hoping to challenge AKP hegemony at the polls in Turkey's June election.

HDP politicians have been quick to respond to the bombing, pointing out that the AKP has encouraged the more than 50 attacks on HDP offices that have taken place this election season. Many politicians have linked the attacks to the AKP, noting that the police have not charged any perpetrators of the attacks.

"The fact that the AKP is executing these attacks means they must be aware they're in their final days," said Feleknas Uca, HDP candidate for Diyarbakır, speaking today at a ceremony to honor revolutionaries who died in the month of May.

Civil society groups have also condemned the bombing, with the Kurdish women's group Congress of Free Women (KJA), the Mesopotamia Lawyers Association and the bar association in the city of Diyarbakır releasing statements condemning the assault on the democratic process in Turkey. The Diyarbakır Bar Association had previously raised a warning about the escalating vitriol from those in power against the HDP in a May 4 statement. They noted that the lack of any security for political parties threatened the legitimacy of elections in Turkey.

The HDP-allied political parties Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) have also condemned the attack. The DBP called it a provocation connected to the AKP's attempts to sabotage peace negotiations over the democratic resolution of the Kurdish question, as advancing the peace process is a key part of the HDP agenda.

(zd/fk/cm)