The explosion occurred in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, an area populated by many Kurds.
Selahattin
Demirtas, the leader of the party, was expected on the stage to make
his final and most anticipated campaign speech. In televised images of
the campaign event, two rally organizers can be heard yelling for
ambulances and music for the event is cut.
A dark cloud is seen rising in the rally area as attendees start
running in panic. The rally organizers can be heard telling the crowd to
avoid running and creating chaos.
"This
is all an effort to stop the rise of the HDP, an effort to keep the HDP
below the election threshold," HDP parliamentarian Sebahat Tuncel told
CNN. "This was a massacre attempt."
Turkey's
energy minister, Taner Yildiz, denied an electrical or technical
failure caused the blast, as Anadolu originally reported Friday.
Voters will go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament.
For
the first time, the HDP has chosen not to run individual candidates but
to enter the race as a party. This means it must secure 10% of all
votes cast or face not being represented in Parliament.
There have been other attacks against the HDP during the campaign season. Last month, an explosion rocked the HDP regional office in Adana, injuring six people, according to the party's press office.
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