Turkey Elects, Sunday 22 July 2007

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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One thought on “Turkey Elects, Sunday 22 July 2007

  1. Ahh, Turkish elections with a bit of humor. We knew AK would win, but it will be better for the country if they continue on their road as before. I’m dying though because most of my income is in dollars and the exchange will soon achieve a first with a lira for a dollar. Ouch!

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