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ANKARA: Turkish Ruling Party Bolsters Strength in Municipal Polls

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  • ANKARA: Turkish Ruling Party Bolsters Strength in Municipal Polls

    Turkish Ruling Party Bolsters Strength in Municipal Polls

    Amberin Zaman
    Ankara
    28 Mar 2004, 22:04 UTC


    Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party bolstered its strength
    in nationwide municipal polls Sunday capturing some 40 percent of the
    vote. The outcome is a ringing endorsement of the conservative party's
    drive to accelerate Turkey's membership of the European Union and of
    its aggressive economic reforms. The Justice and Development Party,
    or AKP retained control of key cities, including the capital Ankara,
    and the country's largest city, Istanbul, while registering gains in
    regions long dominated by left-wing groups.

    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had "voted once again
    for stability and progress."

    The main opposition pro-secular Republican People's Party trailed well
    behind with about 20 percent of the vote.

    Formed by a group of former Islamists three years ago, the AKP swept
    to power in November 2002 parliamentary polls with 34 percent of the
    vote, giving Turkey its first single party government in 15 years.

    Analysts say poll results reflect the huge success of thousands of AKP
    run municipalities.

    Unlike their pro-secular rivals, AKP mayors have been largely
    untainted by corruption and have catered to the needs of the urban
    poor, providing free food and fuel for thousands of shanty town
    dwellers. Mr. Erdogan, himself, rose to national prominence in the
    1990's as the mayor of Istanbul, who brought water to the drought
    stricken city of 10 million.

    Fears that the party might steer the country away from the pro-Western
    and secular policies introduced by the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal
    Ataturk,have proven empty so far.

    In a further bid to quell such concerns, Mr. Erdogan did not field any
    female candidates, who wear the Islamic style headscarf in Sunday's
    polls. And in a gesture to non-Muslim Turks, the AKP ran three ethnic
    Armenians for smaller municipal districts in Istanbul.

    At the national level, the AKP dominated parliament has pushed through
    a raft of reforms designed to help Turkey open membership talks with
    the EU, among them measures to ease bans on the Kurdish language and
    stiffening penaltiesfor torture. The changes may have helped the AKP
    snatch mayoral seats in five major predominantly Kurdish cities held
    by the country's largest pro-Kurdish group, the Democratic People's
    Party, or Dehap.
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