|
Turkish Premier's Party Wins Election. Kurds in the
parliament
23.7.2007 |
|
|
|
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) party
is celebrating after winning a parliamentary
election victory on July 22.
July
23, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's Islamic-rooted
ruling party won parliamentary elections by a wide
margin Sunday, and the prime minister pledged to
safeguard the country's secular traditions and do
whatever the government deems necessary to fight
separatist Kurdish rebels.
With more than 99 percent of votes counted,
television news channels were projecting that Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and
Development Party would win 341 of the 550 seats,
two secular parties, the Republican People's Party
and the Nationalist Action Party, won 112 seats and
70 seats, respectively, the stations said.
Independents backed by a pro-Kurdish party seeking
more rights for the ethnic Kurdish minority won 24
of the remaining 27 seats. |
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
Erdogan, a devout Muslim, told supporters in his
victory speech that he would preserve pluralistic
democracy and work for national unity.
"We will never make concessions over the values of
people, the basic principles of our republic. This
is our promise. We will embrace Turkey as a whole
without discriminating," he said at a rally in the
capital Ankara.
Ruling party supporters clapped, danced and waved
flags depicting the party symbol, a light bulb,
outside the party's office in Istanbul. In Ankara,
hundreds whooped as they watched election results on
a big TV screen set up outside party headquarters.
"We are very happy," university student Reyhan Aksoy
said. "God willing, great days await us."
The election was called early to defuse a showdown
with the military-backed, secular establishment,
which contended that Erdogan and his allies were
plotting to scrap Turkey's secular traditions
despite their openness to the West.
Erdogan raised concern with his efforts as prime
minister to make adultery a crime and appoint former
Islamists to key positions. Critics were also
troubled by his calls for the lifting of
restrictions on the wearing of Islamic headscarves.
Many government opponents constitute a traditional
elite that has roots in state institutions such as
the courts and the military - guardians of the
secular legacy of national founder Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk. But they have more of an authoritarian
background and less of a reformist record than the
government.
Although the ruling party's success has been touted
as proof that Islam and democracy can coexist, the
new government is likely to face persistent tension
over the role of Islam in society.
Fourteen parties and 700 independent candidates
competed for a total of 42.5 million eligible
voters. Voting is compulsory in Turkey, though fines
for failing to vote are rarely imposed, and 2002
election turnout was 79 percent.
Turnout was more than 80 percent, and voting was
largely peaceful, election officials said.
AP
** The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 