I've got several things to write about but I can't access
http://blogger.com so I can't log-in to post!
Hope to write again soon when blogger.com is functioning. Are any other
bloggers facing the same problems or is the problem just a local one?
The weather has been very hot recently. Thursday morning Hamdullah, Zeyni, Izzet and I caught the bus (5 YTL each way) 70 km west along the coast to Kizkalesi.
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The almost constant noise and colour of political campaign vehicles has finished and, in a few hours time, Turkey will go to the polls to elect a new parliament.
If I could vote, who would I vote for? Definitely not the ultra nationalist MHP or isolationist Genc Party. I would probably vote for an independent candidate.
Who will win the largest number of seats? Probably the currently ruling AK Party. Will they retain a majority? Who knows…
The Turkish Daily News provides a run-down of the Mersin election candidates, parties and issues.
For the overall election issues and latest news, visit Wikipedia’s Turkish General Election, 2007 page
Hamdullah, my flatmate, as he is a public school teacher, will man the election booth at his school today.
My 2004 local government election special is here
PS: Like on previous election days, the sale of alcohol is banned today.
ELECTION RESULTS (2007-07-24): As expected, AKP recorded the highest vote percentage with almost 47% of the total. AKP’s percentage actually increased from the 2002 vote but their number of seats gained was reduced although they will still have a majority in parliament. CHP and MHP were the other 2 parties reaching the 10% vote threshold required to enter parliament with 21% and 14% respectively. More than 20, mainly Kurdish, independent candidates also gained enough votes to enter parliament.
Mersin Province was one of only two provinces (along with Osmaniye) to give the most votes to the fascist MHP. However, in Mersin there was only 6% difference between 3 parties with MHP gaining 31%, AKP 27% and CHP 25%.
Election result maps are displayed by the BBC and Wikipedia.
For the most comprehensive Turkish election news and coverage in English see Erkan’s field diary.
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Following on from part 1.
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The writing linked to these photos is located here.
CORRECTION; from comments: “The abandoned skyscraper is the Burj El Murr (Murr Tower), which was only partially built when the civil war broke out in 1975. Its frame was finished during a lull the following year, making it a prime militia location for the “hotel wars” of 1977-78. Your photo is of the old Holiday Inn, which was open and functioning for a few swinging years before the war started.
(If you look at the top floor, you will see the tell-tale bulge of one of the old-style Holiday Inn revolving restaurants!)
The Holiday Inn was _also_ used during the hotel wars (hence the name …).”
Thanks again adiamondinsunlight!
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