Kurds in Turkey might have a say in Erdogan's political future.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has emerged as a kingmaker in the country's upcoming election, playing a decisive role that may just tip the balance enough to unseat two-decade ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Last month, the HDP announced that it would not put forward its own presidential candidate, allowing its supporters to vote for Erdogan's main rival. This is a twist of irony for the Turkish strongman, who spent the past decade cracking down on the party after it began chipping away at his voter base. The HDP's decision not to field a candidate came just three days after head of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan's main rival, visited the party's co-chairs. The six-party Nation Alliance opposition bloc, the HDP, is the strongest contender to run against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the elections.

Hisyar Ozsoy, deputy co-chair of the HDP and a member of parliament from the predominantly Kurdish province of Diyarbakir, told CNN that the HDP is the kingmaker in the elections. Experts say the crackdown on the HDP is rooted in the threat it poses to Erdogan politically, as well as its position as one of the main parties representing Turkey’s Kurds, an ethnic minority from which a separatist militant movement has emerged. The HDP and the Kurdish people have had a complicated relationship with Erdogan, with Erdogan courting the Kurds in earlier years and working with the party on a brief peace process with the PKK. However, ties between Erdogan and the HDP later turned sour and the HDP fell under a sweeping crackdown aimed at the PKK and their affiliates. It is unclear if the HDP will endorse Kilicdaroglu, but analysts say that the deliberate distance may be beneficial for