"AKP shaken but still ahead, surveys suggest

AKP shaken but still ahead, surveys suggest

ANKARA – With less than three weeks left to local elections, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is losing votes, not because of progress by its ideological rivals but as a result of economic frustrations, polls suggest

2+2=?, A guide to local elections

ISTANBUL – Manipulating voter counts and census numbers is one of the oldest tricks in the election book but new technology implemented in Turkey should safeguard the data, says Ömer Toprak, head of the Turkish Statistical Institute, adding that the fraudsters, however, are adapting to the changes and the Interior Ministry needs to be watchful and vigilant

Republican Peoples Party EU Office Web Site

By M.A.M

Please find below more broken English from Republican Peoples Party (CHP) EU Office Web Site. A site that has a video link with no videos and no updates. Basically a site that is as enthusiastic as CHP’s non existent support for Turkey’s EU process. Just not there…

On the home front the main CHP web site is another disaster that still says Yapim Asamasindadir (Under Construction in Turkish) for the English version. This comes as no surprise on a day when the ruling AKP launched a YouTube like AKPTube site. Tube can also be translated as ‘hortum" in Turkish and was used by AKP in criticizing the financial shenanigans that bankrupted some banks and financial institutions during a pre AKP period by saying ‘their pipelines were interrupted | hortumlari kesildi’.

An early projection for the elections in Diyarbakir and Batman by Emre Uslu & Önder Aytaç

In Op-Ed

Almost daily, at least one polling company publishes the results of opinion polls conducted around the country. Recent opinion polling in Diyarbakır shows that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is trailing the Democratic Society Party (DTP) by 10 percent.

Vote Laundering

By Yigal Schleifer


Election campaigns in Turkey are a rough sport, one where the ruling party – with its access to the state coffers – has a significant home field advantage. For example, with nationwide local elections coming up in March, the governing Justice and Development Party has for months been distributing tons of free coal all over Turkey. Some papers have even claimed that all that free coal being burned has led to a deterioration in the air quality in certain cities, running pictures of smog choked neighborhoods that apparently were the recipients of the AKP’s largesse.

The ‘undecided’ should be a matter of concern

In Columnists

"With only three weeks to go before countrywide municipal elections on March 29, Mr. Erdoğan has hit the campaign trail in a confident mood.

Who will stop the AK Party?

In Columnists

As we approach the local elections scheduled for March 29, it appears, according to opinion polls, that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will hold on to its popular support, which had reached 47 percent in the 2007 general elections.

Turkey’s election watchdog to debate search in governor’s building

Turkey’s election watchdog will discuss Wednesday a police search conducted in a building containing offices of the governorship of the eastern province of Tunceli. The Tunceli Public Prosecutor said five placards belonging to the ruling AKP were discovered in the search.

AKP flags turn up in wrong place

TUNCELİ – In depots belonging to the Tunceli Governor’s Office, police found flags, pamphlets and posters belonging to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, reports said yesterday.

Local elections will not produce surprising results

In Columnists

With less than 20 days left until local elections, political parties are playing their final trump cards in an attempt to woo voters and increase support.

Deadlock and Baykal’s tension

By YENI ŞAFAK YASIN DOĞAN on Turkish Press Review

With the approach of local elections on March 29 and political tensions on the rise, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal is growing noticeably more and more ill tempered.

Different aspects of elections

By YENI ŞAFAK DAVUT DURSUN on Turkish Press Review

It is obvious that elections spark dynamism in the media. In addition to closely following the election campaigns of various political parties, media circles get a rush out of reporting on and making critical analyses about election-related developments.

A local election campaign to win over Mediterranean hearts, minds

ANTALYA -The Mediterranean holiday town of Antalya is comng alive even though summer hasn’t arrived yet. Election fervor grips the city as local elections draw near, with the Republican People’s Party seeking to wrestle back control of what it considers one of its strongholds from the Justice and Development Party whose candidate and incumbent mayor, Menderes Türel, is confident of retaining his seat in office and defeating former rector, Mustafa Akaydın, at the polls

Independent ballot inspectors needed

ISTANBUL – An autonomous institution must be put in charge of the election process to ensure its independence from any potential g

overnment intervention, leading constitutional-law and election-law experts say.

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