Many Kurdish voters in Turkey still remember an incident that occurred during Selahattin Demirtas' election campaign back in 2014.

Demirtas' tour bus was rolling along slowly and a young paper collector was walking alongside. "Selahattin Baskan, my president Selahattin!," the young man called out, smiling. The incident became a symbol of the hopes that young Kurds in Turkey placed in Demirtas, head of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, after decades of tensions between Kurdish militants and the Turkish government.

As a candidate, Demirtas was a surprisingly successful newcomer. Polls indicated that many voters thought he was intelligent, charming, modest and even funny — even if they would not vote for him.

In the 2014 presidential elections, Demirtas got almost 10% of the vote. If all Kurdish locals had voted for him that would have topped out at 7%, which indicates he was popular beyond ethnic lines

Then aged just 40, Demirtas had become a beacon for the long-divided Turkish left wing. In subsequent parliamentary elections, he prevented the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, from regaining the absolute majority it had held since coming to power.

But then in 2016, he was arrested, charged with being a member of a terrorist organization — the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a militant Kurdish group — and inciting violence. Last year, he was sentenced to 42 years imprisonment.

For years now, the European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, has condemned Demirtas' arrest, describing his trial as unlawful, and demanded he be released. The government in Turkey had previously ignored the international court.

In November, the ECHR rejected Turkey'sappeal against its judgment and concluded again that the politician's trial was politically motivated. But this time Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his government would comply with the judiciary's decision, a statement that has given Demirtas' supporters hope that he may be released.

Who is Selahattin Demirtas?

Demirtas was born in 1973 in the eastern Anatolian province of Elazig. He studied law at Ankara University and after graduating, he settled in the Kurdish-majority metropolis of Diyarbakir and worked on cases involving human rights violations. He also became head of the Diyarbakir branch of the pro-PKK Human Rights Association.

In 2007, the young lawyer was elected to Turkey's parliament for the first time, as a representative for Diyarbakir. Demirtas then held a number of senior roles in different pro-Kurdish political parties, until in 2014, he became co-president of the HDP.

At that time, the first peace process with Kurdish anti-government groups was getting underway and the pro-Kurdish HDP wanted more than just the majority in Kurdish-majority cities in Turkey. It promoted itself as a liberal party for all Turkish voters.

Demirtas reached out to Turkish left-wing parties and to the local Green party, forging an alliance with them. In parliamentary elections in June 2015, the HDP won around 13% of the vote and 80 seats.

This saw the AKP, Erdogan's party, suffer its biggest setback in 13 years as voters denied it a majority for the first time since 2002. It also made Demirtas Erdogan's main political rival.

Because no government was able to be formed within the legally mandated time, another election had to be held in November 2015, and this time, the AKP clawed back the votes it had lost.

42-year prison sentence

Shortly after that any peace negotiations with anti-government Kurdish groups ended and there was also a coup attempt against the government in 2016. After this, the Erdogan-controlled government cracked down on any and all rivals; Demirtas and 10 other members of the HDP were arrested.

Reha Ruhavioglu, director of Kurdish Studies Center in Diyarbakir, believes that Erdogan had actually harbored a grudge against Demirtas since his 2015 electoral setback and had wanted to imprison him ever since.

Demirtas has lost almost all contact with his supporters since being in prison, Ruhavioglu says. But the Turkish government hasn't been able to completely erase him. 

Ruhavioglu believes this is because of Demirtas ' personality — he is smart and also has exceptional emotional intelligence, is a born leader and is very good at engaging with voters. Nobody else has really rivalled him over the past nine years, Ruhavioglu suggests.

This is confirmed by the Diyarbakir-based polling institute Rawest Research. More than 1,400 Kurdish voters were asked about their favorite politicians: Demirtas was the most popular by a large margin. Interviewees said that he most represented Kurdish identity and rights for Kurds but that he also had the ability to engage in dialogue with other ethnic and social groups.

Change in political climate

For over a year now, there's been increasing rapprochement between the Turkish government and Kurdish groups. In May, the PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organization by many countries, agreed to lay down its weapons at the behest of their imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

Although Ocalan remains the most important figure in the process, with both military and political wings of the PKK listening to him, Ruhavioglu believes Demirtas may well be the most important civilian figure.

He's the right person to play a strong role in the democratic process that comes next, Ruhavioglu says.

Recently Demirtas sent word from inside prison, saying that he supports the current peace process and would be willing to assume responsibility within it.

The question is whether President Erdogan will allow him to. After all, Demirtas is the politician who openly defied him, preventing his party's absolute majority and therefore his moves to grant himself more presidential power. Many believe that Erdogan would rather negotiate with 76-year-old Ocalan than 52-year-old Demirtas.

This story was originally published in German.