Election victory for Turkey’s AKP party

[CK_John]

Source: The Financial Times

Turkey’s Islamist-rooted government was poised for a return to office Sunday night after a landslide victory in a general election that amounted to a kick in the teeth for the country’s secular establishment and powerful military.

As counting continued late into the night after millions of voters cast their ballots in searing temperatures, the Justice and Development party (AKP) was poised to win about 47 per cent of the popular vote, giving it some 340 seats in the 550-seat parliament.

Two parties representing the secular and nationalist opposition were on target to win a combined 34 per cent. Independent candidates representing the mainly Kurdish south-east of Turkey were also set to gain seats. The turnout was more than 80 per cent.

The result means the centre-right, pro-business AKP will be able comfortably to form another single-party administration. Investors and analysts said this was the most positive outcome for financial markets, which have invested heavily on a continuation of the economic and structural reforms pursued by the outgoing government.

Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9c86fec4-3885-11dc-bca9-0000779fd2ac.html

---

IMO, this will lead to instability in Turkey.

[Odin2005]

1. Islamist AND economically right wing? This doesn't sound good.

[PittPoliSci]

18. islamism and free market economics go hand in hand.

Robert Dreyfuss' "The Devil's Game" shows the extent to which the United States and Britain propped up islamism in order to open up middle east economies throughout the 20th century.

good read, if you've got the time.

[thereismore]

2. 80% turnout. We may wish. nt

[Irreverend IX]

3. They apparently want to change the constitution...

To reduce the powers of the Turkish president and have the president elected by the public rather than by the members of parliament. Currently, the president is one of the only non-Islamist holdouts in the government.

[demoleft]

4. "Kurds get voice in parliament"

Al Jazeera: "Pro-Kurdish candidates have been elected to Turkey's parliament for the first time in more than a decade."

Now the attention focuses on Northern Iraq where turkish troops are said to be ready to invade. "Turkey has threatened to stage such an incursion if talks with Iraq and the US fail to produce effective measures against the rebels", the PKK military forces.

Are the elected Kurdish expected to declare PKK "a terrorist organisation" - as it is reported?
Probably so.

I hope US warns Turkey not to invade.
Has anyone seen or heard the EU on the matter?

Source: Al Jazeera, http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C426B08B-F659-4C5F-81DE-C74C14786DCA.htm

[SoCalDem]

5. Voters hand Turkey's secular parties a setback

Source: By Laura King, LA-Times Staff Writer

Voters hand Turkey's secular parties a setback
A crushing defeat at the polls fuels fears that Erdogan’s ruling AKP will push to make the country Islamist.

By Laura King, Times Staff Writer
7:07 PM PDT, July 22, 2007



ISTANBUL, Turkey — Voters Sunday handed Turkey's Islamist-influenced ruling party a decisive victory in parliamentary elections, rewarding it for stewardship of the country's robust economy but raising the specter of bitter new quarrels over the feared erosion of Turkey's secular traditions.

With more than two-thirds of the votes counted, the Justice and Development Party, known by its Turkish initials AKP, garnered about 48% of the vote, according to unofficial results — a substantial increase over the 34% it received in elections five years ago when it came to power.

The vote could have far-reaching consequences for Turkey's engagement with the West, including its drive to become the first Muslim-dominated country to join the European Union. Though secularist parties have been cool to that idea, the AKP has vowed to press ahead with the bid despite early rebuffs.

"With this vote, Turkey said no to insularity, no to closing in on itself," said Cengiz Candar, a prominent political columnist.

snip

Read more: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/0-0-0&fp=46a4350f0a80e8ef&ei=4TGkRqM_oaSrA-2W_fAI&url=http%3A//www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-turkelect23jul23%2C0%2C4301585.story%3Fcoll%3Dla-home-center&cid=1118171923&sig2=hFSf6z6nIpB4ANw5hE

---

...and so it starts.. Goodbye NATO..EU? never gonna happen.

[kurth]

6. NEXT: Turkey approves stoning for adultery

and blasphemy against The Prophet.

[Adsos Letter]

7. Yup...and now they're ready to unleash their army on the Kurds...

...damn...

[armodem08]

8. This is a little more complex than it looks firsthand...

The Islamist party is more reformist than the secularists, who tend to be more authoritarian and are linked with the Turkish elite. The secularist party is also backed by the military, which has backed coups in the past.

[oneguy]

9. Good news

The other two secular parties are far more anti-American and anti-European than the moderate AK (which has some Islamist roots). The secular parties would go to war against Kurds in Iraq much more readily than AK. A couple of months ago many Americans (especially neo-cons) were cheering how a million Turks marched against AK govt and in support of secularism, but they missed the part that these rallies also had anti-American tone (America is blamed by many Turks for PKK rise again due to Iraq war). AK party wants to join EU. The other two parties are against it. These so-called secular parties are not just 'secular' but also (more importantly) fanatically nationalist. They have worse record on minority rights than AK, which allows more freedom to Christian minorities, for example.

[MrPrax]

11. Hi!!!

and Welcome to DU!!

Um...your reading? Your reading something OTHER than Fox?

Now why would you go and screw shit up with 'normal' political analysis -- next you'll be questioning the loyalties of The Free Press© who seem almost breathlessly excited as they explain to Freedom People© why it's a good thing for the military to launch a coup if it doesn't agree with the democratic will of it's people.

True -- from time to time, elites backed by the military, piss people off so much, due to their corruption and oppression, that the military has to step in and directly run things for awhile, until they find another 'beard' that will accept the military's veto.

[papau]

12. I hope you are correct - but replacing secular law with Islamic law was an AK thought n/t

n/t

[Tempest]

14. No it wasn't

In fact, the AK has made it clear they have no intention nor do they want to replace secular law with Islamic law.

The only ones who made those claims were clerics outside of the ruling party.

[papau]

19. Islamist MP's that say such things are probably Refah or Fadila and not AK - but AK's Gul

has that wife that wears the veil - but he does claim to be bringing on EU type laws.

If I have to stick to AK's history in government, I must agree with you that they are secular.

But will it continue with 49% of the vote instead of 34% and needing partners?

Indeed Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that some 1 million Turks protested in Istanbul and Ankara, fearing that the AK Party could exercise a hidden Islamist agenda. Seems some in Turkey do not believe the denials of AK - now that they are likely to control not only parliament and the prime-ministership, but finally the presidency.

There will not be the veto power of the current secularist president Ahmet Necdet Sezer much longer.

We will see the true colors of AK soon.

I hope you are correct that they will remain secular in governing - but we will see the truth soon.

[Tempest]

20. We've already seen the truth

Gul's party has been in power for the last 5 years and there has been not one attempt at instituting one single Islamic rule or edict through the political process.

I don't know how much more proof you need, but I'm guessing there will never be enough.

[potone]

10. Any Turks here?

I remember reading a post on DU from a Turk years ago. I would very much like to hear an assessment of this election from an enlightened Turk. I know the situation there is far more complicated than our press would have us believe.

[Orrin_73]

15. Here is one Turk

Ak party is more reformist then any party Turkey ever had, the other parties are secularists but very very nationalist. The nationalists are against Turkey's westernization. The Ak party achieved many things especially the Turkish economy is doing very good, although the architect was someone else namely Kemal Dervis (a social democrat). The only thing Ak did was implement the economic reforms and further liberalize the economy. The Ak also initiated many social reforms like giving more rights to minorities including their languages. The other parties that ruled Turkey were always fighting the opposition parties and that resulted always with economic recessions and major fights in the streets between different political groups.

[harun]

17. Thanks for chiming in, much more complex than these headlines

display. I am friends with many Turks and get a nice breakdown from them on some of the workings of modern Turkey.

Like them I am very glad to see this win, it is a good thing for Turkey!

[Eugene]

13. Turkey PM Vows to Preserve Secularism

Source: Associated Press

Turkey PM Vows to Preserve Secularism

Monday July 23, 2007 11:01 AM

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA

Associated Press Writer

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's prime minister pledged to work
toward national unity and fight terrorism after the Islamic-rooted
ruling party won parliamentary elections by a wide margin.

Although the ruling party's success has been touted as proof that
Islam and democracy can coexist, the new government is likely to
face persistent tension over the role of Islam in society.

State-run Anatolia news agency was projecting that Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party would win
340 of the 550 seats, as votes in all but six of more than 158,000
ballot boxes across the country were counted.

Erdogan, a devout Muslim, pledged to safeguard the country's
secular traditions and do whatever the government deems
necessary to fight separatist Kurdish rebels.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6798673,00.html

[roamer65]

16. Turkish AKP PM Erdogan is trying to resist...

calls for an invasion of northern Iraq. Despite the "Islamist" roots, it is a very moderate, outward looking party. I'm actually glad the Turks chose the AKP by a wide margin over the hard-line secular parties. The AKP has done a decent job with the economy, bringing inflation way down and growth way up.