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Elections In Turkey: 6 People Killed, Over 100 Injured

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  • Elections In Turkey: 6 People Killed, Over 100 Injured

    ELECTIONS IN TURKEY: 6 PEOPLE KILLED, OVER 100 INJURED
    Karine Ter-Sahakyan

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    31.03.2009 GMT+04:00

    The ruling party receives 40% of votes, which is considered a defeat
    in Turkey.

    Turkish municipal elections, on which the Justice and Development
    Party (AKP) and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan pinned all their
    hopes, are now over, falling short of Islamists' expectations. The
    elections revealed all the problems, which the AKP has been trying to
    solve through force or empty slogans and promises. The elections also
    proved that in spite of persecution and arrests, Kemalists and the Army
    in particular, still preserve their positions in the Turkish society.

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Its mite in the Â"defeatÂ" also had the world
    crisis, though its share is smallest in the fact that Turkey is
    not yet ready for Islamists' absolute rule. We can assume with
    some confidence that the main problem lies in the personality of
    the Turkish Premier. Mr. Erdogan's statements and actions did not
    add to his authority. The reception of Erdogan in Istanbul airport
    after the scandal in Davos was just an organized action. Moreover,
    it was successful as it was firstly directed against the Jews and
    only secondly to the support of Erdogan.

    No one believed the elections would be peaceful, but they really
    substantiated all our most horrible fears. Six people were killed and
    about a hundred were injured in the most Â"problematicÂ" provinces,
    populated basically with Kurds. According to Turkish media, altogether
    590 people were detained in polling stations during the elections. In
    Izmir, where the AKP came off second-best, the police made a list
    of addresses of a number of people, 228 of whom were taken to police
    departments.

    In the south-eastern city of Kahramanmaras the police have pursued
    a similar strategy, giving executives of polling stations names of
    the people they were looking for. Most of these people were accused
    of minor financial machination or of inflicting physical injuries
    to other people. 183 people were detained here. Besides, 70 people
    were detained in Erzerum, 30 people - in Manisa, and another 100 were
    arrested for various disturbances in the southeastern city of Adiyaman.

    In many election centers similar problems were also faced by the
    disabled, who wanted to take part in the election. However, all these
    measures did not help the authorities preserve their position of the
    leader. In comparison with previous elections, the ruling Justice
    and Development Party won 8% of votes less, losing in a range of big
    cities, particularly in Antalya. The party received 40% of votes,
    which is considered a defeat in Turkey.

    The Council of Europe condemned the unlawful actions during the
    municipal elections in Turkey. "I condemn the violence which erupted
    during local elections in Turkey on 29 March, leaving six people dead
    and some hundred injured," stressed Ian Micallef, a.i. President of
    the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. In
    his words, it is both tragic and absurd that the ultimate exercise
    in democracy - elections - lead to bloodshed.

    Prime-Minister Erdogan showed his dissatisfaction over the issue,
    speaking rather roughly of the Â"ungratefulÂ" inhabitants of
    Antalya. "We have done so much for them!," Erdogan said.

    Be that as it may, after the elections the Erdogan government
    will meet more difficulties in trying to explain its moves to its
    people. It would also be hard for Turkey to justify herself to the
    EU for the democratic reforms, which, in reality, have never been
    carried out. Even if they have been materialized, it wasn't done the
    way it should be done by the countries eager to enter the European
    family. In a word, confrontation between Islamists and Kemalists is
    not yet over, and nobody yet knows what results it might have. But
    one thing is clear - an Islamic country, even one as progressive as
    Turkey, in no way falls into the pattern of a democratic country.
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