News

CHP backs AKP vice chairman on debate on moving polling stations

Oct 02 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet

Justice and Development Party (AKP) Vice Chairman Mehmet Ali Şahin’s suggestion that Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) does not have the authority to move polling stations is correct, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Secretary-General Gürsel Tekin has said.

“I congratulate Mehmet Ali Şahin on his status as a legal expert. There is, for the first time, a correct voice from the AKP,” Tekin told the Hürriyet Daily News on Oct. 2. 

“I agree with what [Şahin] has said. The constitution is clear. The YSK cannot take such a decision,” he added. 

Document shows gov’t ignored attacked journalist Hakan’s security request

Oct 01 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet
Hürriyet columnist and CNN Türk program host Ahmet Hakan legally requested a security detail to be appointed by the Turkish government 17 days before a physical attack targeting him on Oct. 1, legal documents show, while the Istanbul Governor’s Office said that Hakan did not request security on the day of the attack as he was granted ‘security upon call'.
 

Four men, arriving in a black Honda at 12:35 a.m. on Oct. 1, attacked Hakan in Istanbul’s Nişantaşı neighborhood, as he was returning home after hosting his television program. 

CHP appeals to younger generations with straightforward promises

Sep 30 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet

Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) has presented a detailed framework for its program ahead of the Nov. 1 elections, listing concrete and down-to-earth promises it says will solve problems in the divisive issues of democracy and the rule of law, the economy, foreign policy, education, as well as societal peace and the Kurdish issue.

Plan to move ballot boxes for ‘security’ sets gov’t, opposition at loggerheads

Sep 30 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet

Turkey’s interim government and opposition parties are at odds on the prospect of moving polling stations in the upcoming Nov. 1 snap election, with the main opposition party leader saying such a step would make the results “shady,” raising questions over “the presence of the state” in certain places.

Election tension to loom over opening of parliament

Sep 30 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet

Nuray Babacan - ANKARA.-

Turkey’s parliament will open its putative fall session on Oct. 1, but the end to the summer recess will be overshadowed by snap elections set for Nov. 1, as well as a spiral of violence between the state and outlawed militants.

Lawmakers were elected in June 7 elections, but MPs have so far only sat for 22 hours and 23 minutes since the polls. The Oct. 1 session also marks the last time that legislators will sit this term before the Nov. 1 elections.

AK Party asked YSK to outlaw Şanlıurfa mayor’s campaign slogan in 2009

Sep 30 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Todays Zaman

Turkish media have reported that a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) official filed a complaint with the Supreme Election Board (YSK) asking it to outlaw the campaign slogan of Şanlıurfa Mayor Ahmet Eşref Fakıbaba ahead of the 2009 local election, claiming that he was abusing religious symbols in the name of politics in billboard advertisements.

Gendarmerie asks for fewer, more secure polling stations in Erzincan despite no recent violence

Sep 30 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Todays Zaman

The Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Command has asked the provincial electoral board to reduce the number of polling stations and transfer ballot boxes to central locations in the province ahead of the Nov. 1 general election, despite the fact that no violence has occurred in the province recently.

EU progress report on Turkey to highlight problems in rule of law, press freedoms

Sep 29 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Todays Zaman

The European Union's progress report on Turkey for 2015, the final version of which will be released on Oct. 14, will express deep concern over growing violations of the rule of law and restrictions on press freedom, according to sources who spoke to Today's Zaman in Brussels.

The EU sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the report will include extensive coverage of these violations. The Kurdish question, issues in public administration, and anti-corruption measures will also be included in the report.

HDP co-chair signals coalition with CHP

Sep 28 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Doğan News Agency

Turkey’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş gave signs of a potential coalition with Republican People’s Party (CHP) at a speech during his visit to Germany.

“The CHP, HDP and forces, communities siding with peace, freedom and democracy, should be able to offer a democratic alternative power to Turkey’s society,” said Demirtaş in the Hamburg province of Germany on Sep. 27.

Turkey’s key problem now freedom of press instead of torture, judge says

Sep 28 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet

İpek Yezdani-Istanbul

Turkish judge Işıl Karakaş, who was recently elected as the new vice-president of the European Court of Human Rights, has said Turkey’s image as a country that tolerates “torture” has been replaced with the image of a country that does not protect the freedom of press.

PACE to observe upcoming snap election

Sep 28 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Todays Zaman

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will send a delegation to Turkey to observe the upcoming Nov. 1 snap election.

According to information acquired by Today's Zaman, PACE will recruit a team of observers consisting of 30 to 35 individuals to monitor the Turkish polls on Nov. 1.

In the previous general election on June 7, a 29-member PACE delegation, led by Tiny Kox from the Unified European Left Group, visited Turkey to observe the polls.

400,000 voters to be affected by transfer of ballot boxes

Sep 28 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Todays Zaman

As many as 400,000 voters are at risk of being unable to cast their ballots in the Nov. 1 general election, as many voting stations in the country's eastern and southeastern provinces may be transferred due to a lack of security, which the opposition sees as a move to increase the ruling party's chances.

 

Residents of several villages and neighborhoods in the region will be required to vote elsewhere if the country's top election authority approves decisions made by local election boards.

 

Details of attack on Hürriyet in 11 points

Sep 09 2015
Turkey
Source: 
ABC

Radikal, one of Turkey’s most popular news websites, shares offices with Turkish newspaper Hürriyet and its English-language sister the Hürriyet Daily News. It published the following account as an editorial on Sept. 7, hours after the violent attack carried out on the office building by pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) protesters:

At the moment, around 15 gendarmerie special teams are posted in the garden of our newspaper offices. Why are they here? They are here to protect us, the journalists, because you came to our home carrying stones and sticks. 

HDP files petition for electoral security as CHP rules out delay of snap polls

Sep 05 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

Kurdish problem-focused Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has filed a petition to Turkey's top election body regarding electoral security, as Republican People's Party (CHP) chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu dismissed claims of postponement of the early elections scheduled for Nov. 1.

Turkey's Prime Minister calls on opposition parties to bury the hatchet and discuss coalition

Jun 16 2015
Turkey
Source: 
Hürriyet Daily News

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has urged opposition parties to unclench their fists and turn swords into ploughshares if they want to form a coalition with the Justice and Development Party (AKP). 

 

Gathered with the newly elected deputies of his party, Davutoğlu called on other political parties, which have intentions of forming a coalition government, to have discussions with the AKP.

 

“Let’s talk [about the] future of the country. We can’t get to the field with fists,” he said on June 16.

 

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