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PM TRIES TO WIN OVER NATIONALIST VOTERS AS EXPAT TURNOUT REMAINS LOW
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 8 2014
The lower-than-expected voter turnout for the presidential election on
Aug. 10 among Turkish citizens living abroad has driven Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to obtain greater support from voters
who embrace a nationalist ideology, the Taraf daily reported on Friday.
Claims of a low turnout among Turkish expatriates has suggested
that Erdogan has little chance of being elected in the first round
of Sunday's presidential election, causing him to begin using harsh,
insulting rhetoric against racial and ethnic minorities in an effort to
gain more support from voters highly sensitive to nationalist ideals,
according to the news report.
However, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is well-known
for the highly nationalist orientation of its policies and for
criticizing Erdogan due to the settlement process being conducted
between government officials and the imprisoned leader of the outlawed
terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in an effort to find a
solution to the country's decades-old Kurdish problem, lashed out at
Erdogan's attempt to lure nationalist voters ahead of the election.
In an address to the public on a TV channel on Tuesday, Erdogan, the
presidential candidate of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party),
emphasized the religious and ethnic backgrounds of his political
rivals -- Ekmeleddin Ä°hsanoglu and Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_ -- and made
offensive remarks concerning people of Georgian and Armenian descent.
During his speech, Erdogan repeated previous statements he had made
about the backgrounds of Republican People's Party (CHP) leader
Kemal Kılıcdaroglu and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) leader and
presidential candidate Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_. Erdogan had earlier said:
"Kılıcdaroglu, you are an Alevi and I am Sunni. You should state this
openly. DemirtaÅ~_, you are Zaza. Don't be worried about speaking
out about this." In response to a question posed during a joint
broadcast of Star TV and NTV regarding the negative reaction these
words have drawn, Erdogan said: "Let all Turks in Turkey say they are
Turks and all Kurds say they are Kurds. What is wrong with that? You
wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said
I am Georgian...they have said even uglier things -- they have called
me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Erdogan's statement describing being
Armenian as "uglier" than being Georgian has resulted in a rapid,
angry backlash among broad segments of society.
As to the reasons for the low turnout among Turkish citizens living
abroad, the online appointment requirement set by the Supreme
Election Board (YSK) and the inadequate numbers of voting locations
are reportedly the greatest reasons for the reluctance of expats to
cast votes, affecting elderly voters who are not computer-literate and
those who live far from the cities where Turkish diplomatic missions
are located.
According to YSK data, there are 2.7 million eligible voters who were
allowed to vote between July 31 and August 3 at the polling centers in
the Turkish missions; however, the turnout fell short of expectations.
Media outlets reported that just eight percent of those eligible
voters took part in the election, which Erdogan apparently believes
he will win.
Taraf argued that Erdogan had been hoping to draw strong support from
expatriates, corresponding to two percent of the total amount of the
vote and seen a very important margin for Erdogan to be elected in
the first round of the election. However, the low turnout has changed
the course of Erdogan's election campaign, driving the prime minister
to pursue the nationalist voters, the daily reported.
If none of the candidates garners more than 50 percent of the vote
in the first round, the second round of voting for Turkish citizens
abroad will take place between Aug. 17 and 20, while it will be held
on Aug. 24 at home.
The low turnout abroad seems to indicate that the victor will emerge
after a second round of voting, urging Erdogan to target those who
have favored the nationalist parties in previous elections.
MHP reacts harshly to Erdogan's new tactic to lure nationalist votes
On Friday, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Parliamentary Group
Deputy Chairman Oktay Vural slammed Erdogan saying, "How can you say
'my brother' to the supporters of the MHP? How can a person [Erdogan]
who earlier defined nationalists as 'animals, divisive and racist
people appeal for their support today?"
Vural strongly reacted to what he described as the prime minister's
"political tactic" at rallies during the presidential election campaign
to lure nationalist voters, adding, "It is obvious that while Erdogan
previously trampled on all nationalist values and ideals, today he
thinks otherwise. But everyone knows his words praising nationalist
ideals are a fake sympathy designed to lure our brothers' support in
the upcoming presidential election."
Continuing his criticism, Vural went on to say, "As it suits his
purposes, Erdogan announces being an Armenian, a person who embraces
Kemalist ideology [shaped around Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's ideals,
founder of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923] and sometimes a
Georgian. Such a crooked man cannot be the brother of the nationalist
people."
http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_pm-tries-to-win-over-nationalist-voters-as-expat-turnout-remains-low_355040.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 8 2014
The lower-than-expected voter turnout for the presidential election on
Aug. 10 among Turkish citizens living abroad has driven Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to obtain greater support from voters
who embrace a nationalist ideology, the Taraf daily reported on Friday.
Claims of a low turnout among Turkish expatriates has suggested
that Erdogan has little chance of being elected in the first round
of Sunday's presidential election, causing him to begin using harsh,
insulting rhetoric against racial and ethnic minorities in an effort to
gain more support from voters highly sensitive to nationalist ideals,
according to the news report.
However, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is well-known
for the highly nationalist orientation of its policies and for
criticizing Erdogan due to the settlement process being conducted
between government officials and the imprisoned leader of the outlawed
terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in an effort to find a
solution to the country's decades-old Kurdish problem, lashed out at
Erdogan's attempt to lure nationalist voters ahead of the election.
In an address to the public on a TV channel on Tuesday, Erdogan, the
presidential candidate of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party),
emphasized the religious and ethnic backgrounds of his political
rivals -- Ekmeleddin Ä°hsanoglu and Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_ -- and made
offensive remarks concerning people of Georgian and Armenian descent.
During his speech, Erdogan repeated previous statements he had made
about the backgrounds of Republican People's Party (CHP) leader
Kemal Kılıcdaroglu and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) leader and
presidential candidate Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_. Erdogan had earlier said:
"Kılıcdaroglu, you are an Alevi and I am Sunni. You should state this
openly. DemirtaÅ~_, you are Zaza. Don't be worried about speaking
out about this." In response to a question posed during a joint
broadcast of Star TV and NTV regarding the negative reaction these
words have drawn, Erdogan said: "Let all Turks in Turkey say they are
Turks and all Kurds say they are Kurds. What is wrong with that? You
wouldn't believe the things they have said about me. They have said
I am Georgian...they have said even uglier things -- they have called
me Armenian, but I am Turkish." Erdogan's statement describing being
Armenian as "uglier" than being Georgian has resulted in a rapid,
angry backlash among broad segments of society.
As to the reasons for the low turnout among Turkish citizens living
abroad, the online appointment requirement set by the Supreme
Election Board (YSK) and the inadequate numbers of voting locations
are reportedly the greatest reasons for the reluctance of expats to
cast votes, affecting elderly voters who are not computer-literate and
those who live far from the cities where Turkish diplomatic missions
are located.
According to YSK data, there are 2.7 million eligible voters who were
allowed to vote between July 31 and August 3 at the polling centers in
the Turkish missions; however, the turnout fell short of expectations.
Media outlets reported that just eight percent of those eligible
voters took part in the election, which Erdogan apparently believes
he will win.
Taraf argued that Erdogan had been hoping to draw strong support from
expatriates, corresponding to two percent of the total amount of the
vote and seen a very important margin for Erdogan to be elected in
the first round of the election. However, the low turnout has changed
the course of Erdogan's election campaign, driving the prime minister
to pursue the nationalist voters, the daily reported.
If none of the candidates garners more than 50 percent of the vote
in the first round, the second round of voting for Turkish citizens
abroad will take place between Aug. 17 and 20, while it will be held
on Aug. 24 at home.
The low turnout abroad seems to indicate that the victor will emerge
after a second round of voting, urging Erdogan to target those who
have favored the nationalist parties in previous elections.
MHP reacts harshly to Erdogan's new tactic to lure nationalist votes
On Friday, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Parliamentary Group
Deputy Chairman Oktay Vural slammed Erdogan saying, "How can you say
'my brother' to the supporters of the MHP? How can a person [Erdogan]
who earlier defined nationalists as 'animals, divisive and racist
people appeal for their support today?"
Vural strongly reacted to what he described as the prime minister's
"political tactic" at rallies during the presidential election campaign
to lure nationalist voters, adding, "It is obvious that while Erdogan
previously trampled on all nationalist values and ideals, today he
thinks otherwise. But everyone knows his words praising nationalist
ideals are a fake sympathy designed to lure our brothers' support in
the upcoming presidential election."
Continuing his criticism, Vural went on to say, "As it suits his
purposes, Erdogan announces being an Armenian, a person who embraces
Kemalist ideology [shaped around Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's ideals,
founder of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923] and sometimes a
Georgian. Such a crooked man cannot be the brother of the nationalist
people."
http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_pm-tries-to-win-over-nationalist-voters-as-expat-turnout-remains-low_355040.html