General Duke Posted July 23, 2007 EU welcomes Erdogan election win Mr Erdogan's AK Party increased its share of the vote by 12% The EU has welcomed Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's election victory, and urged him to relaunch reforms which could lead to membership of the bloc. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said a new Turkish government would need to make "concrete progress" on freedom of expression and religion. Mr Erdogan has pledged to "work with determination" towards EU membership. He won a second five-year term in office after his AK Party increased its share of the vote to 46% on Sunday. The election was called after opposition parties in parliament blocked the AKP's nominee for the post of president, causing political deadlock. But despite his electoral victory, Mr Erdogan will lack the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to be able force through his candidate. 'Major challenges ahead' On Monday, the EU officials congratulated Mr Erdogan on his party's victory, describing it as a mandate for the reforms it wants Turkey to complete during its membership talks. However, the bloc's enlargement commissioner said the new Turkish government faced "major challenges ahead". "It is essential that the new government will relaunch the legal and economic reforms with full determination and concrete results," Mr Rehn said. "We need to see concrete progress on such fundamental freedoms as the freedom of expression, the freedom of religion." The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, also welcomed the victory, saying the vote came "at an important moment for the people of Turkey". The UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said it was very important for Europe to "reach out" to the new government. "A stable and secure political situation in Turkey is massively in our interest and we will certainly want to be taking forward our links with this very important country," he added. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said everyone was interested in having a "modern, dynamic, successful Turkey as a partner". "We expect this government that has a good track record over the past years to continue with even more ambition," she said. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.O.R.F Posted July 23, 2007 Well done to the AK party! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted July 23, 2007 Gamble pays off as Turkey's PM wins historic landslide Ian Traynor in Istanbul Monday July 23, 2007 The Guardian Supporters of Turkey’s ruling AKP celebrate in Istanbul. Photograph: Bulent Kilic/AFP Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, secured a landslide election triumph last night, winning a second five-year term with nearly half of the national vote after being forced by veiled threats of a military overthrow to call an early ballot. In what was seen as the most crucial Turkish election in at least a generation, Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) won 47% of the vote, giving it a majority of about 130 in the 550-seat parliament in Ankara. The vote vindicated Mr Erdogan's gamble in calling the election four months early after the military, the opposition, and the constitutional court stymied his choice of president in April. As he said in a magnanimous victory speech last night in Ankara, it was the first time in more than 50 years a Turkish governing party had been returned with a bigger share of the vote. The AKP put on 13% compared with its 2002 breakthrough. The CHP, or Republican People's party, came second with 21%; the only other party to enter parliament, the rightwing nationalist MHP, took 14% . Turks turned out in searing heat, deserting resorts on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts to award Mr Erdogan his thumping majority. More than 80% of the electorate voted in what Mr Erdogan declared a big test for democracy - an implicit dig at the generals and their political allies, whose attempt to undermine the government ended in fiasco. While Mr Erdogan's parliamentary majority is more than comfortable, his seat tally fell by 22 because more parties and independents got into parliament. The victory set the scene for an unprecedented 10-year rule by the charismatic prime minister who first emerged from the conservative, religious right. Suspicion about his alleged religious agenda fuelled a vituperative campaign. Last night he sought to heal the divisions. The electorate voted for a government of the centre, he said, after having before the poll purged his parliamentary list of religious conservatives and brought in female, liberal, and younger candidates. EU membership remained a commitment, he said, challenging the growing hostility to Turkey's EU ambitions among centre-right governments in Europe. He pledged to be a prime minister of all Turks, including his political enemies. Earlier he offered an olive branch to powerful opponents in the Ankara elite who suspect his party of seeking to dismantle the secular foundations of modern Turkey and pursuing an Islamist agenda. "We are the strongest advocates of a democratic, secular, social state governed by the rule of law," he said. "I call on all leaders not to close their doors. Let's get around a table and discuss the problems of Turkey's democracy and make the rule of law reign." Mr Erdogan has been confronted by the military, the opposition and million-strong street protests in recent weeks. The scale of his victory last night shored up his government's legitimacy both domestically and internationally, putting him in an unassailable position and leaving the military licking their wounds. It remains to be seen if the mandate will quickly dissolve the air of crisis that has enveloped Turkey in recent months. The possible threat of a coup, deadlock between government and opposition over a new head of state, pressure for a military invasion of northern Iraq to crack down on Turkish Kurdish guerrillas sheltering there, poor relations with the US over Iraq, and near-paralysis in Turkey's efforts to negotiate membership of the EU - all these are issues piling up in the in-tray. The multiple challenges have produced an outpouring of extreme nationalism, resulting in the parliamentary presence of the MHP, widely viewed as neo-fascist, with a paramilitary wing. Its leader campaigned with a hangman's noose, his preferred solution to the Kurdish insurgency in the south-east. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xiinfaniin Posted July 23, 2007 A man to be admired indeed! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted July 23, 2007 ^^^He is a titan, but one must also look at the cohesive nature of the party and the sense of hope they have brought to the state. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xiinfaniin Posted July 23, 2007 ^^I think, his party in general, and himself in particular learnt great deal from Arbakan’s experience in modern Turkey. And it paid off! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allamagan Posted July 23, 2007 A warning strong signal to turkey's secularist generals and fags. Congrats to Akapi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted July 23, 2007 Xiin, you are 100% right they are playing hard politics and so far have proven their dictractors wrong. A growing economy, a sizable numbers entering the middle class and specially from Anatolia. Has helped give Erdogan and Co this new mandate. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NGONGE Posted July 23, 2007 Yet, he'll still watch his step and keep the army on side by not going ultra Islamic with his policies! So far, he's been good and long may it continue. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naxar Nugaaleed Posted July 24, 2007 Allamagan A warning strong signal to turkey's secularist generals and fags . Congrats to Akapi Fags? The discussion here gets more and more crazy here. People, no matter how much seats AKP gets, its well short of the 2/3 majority it needs to put Abdullah Gul through and some of their islamist policies. two, the generals well not let them do it even if they get all the votes they need. three, the parliament is divided between ultranationalist and the AKP which does not bode well for bipartisan initiative. Lastly, AKP has already said they plan not to threaten secularism and that it will focus on EU accession (Deadend with countries like cyprus joining and only needing one vote to block) and the economy. theres not much to get excited about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted July 24, 2007 ^^^NN,you made some valid points. Change will take time but the AK have another 5 years and things will no doubtly move forwrad. They wont rock the boat and challange the Generals out right. However if the economy, and yes its robust continues to grow it will be to Erdogan's advantage. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rudy-Diiriye Posted July 24, 2007 Ankara is gone, next... probably egypt. where there is smoke, soon u will see fire. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
