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Two separate bombs hit the offices of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Monday, injuring at least eight people in the latest incident of violence ahead of the country’s electoral contest set for June 7.
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The two explosions, one at the HDP election office in Mersin and the other in Adana is the latest in what the left-wing party said were some 60 assaults on its offices since the election campaign began.
The HDP, which represents the progressive Kurdish nationalist movement in Turkey, considers itself anti-capitalist and also puts a strong emphasis on environmentalism and gender equity. The party has launched an ambitious election campaign to widen its appeal beyond the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast.
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If the HDP's political platform garners broader support beyond its Kurdish base, it could surpass the 10 percent threshold to enter parliament.
Therefore, the HDP's possibility of entering parliament depends upon the new-found support it has found within Turkey's non-Kurdish liberal constituency.
Around 56 million Turkish voters are eligible to cast their ballots to elect 550 members of national parliament.
Meanwhile, Turkish nationalists are fiercely opposed to HDP, accusing it of ties with the socialist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 30-year armed struggle against the state in which 40,000 people have been killed. The PKK also has ties with other Kurdish groups in the region, including the People's Protection Units (YPG), which have been fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.
A peace process designed to end the conflict, which began in late 2012, deteriorated last October, as violent protests erupted in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeastern region over allegations that Turkey was assisting Islamic State group fighters in their attempt to seize the town of Kobane.
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