Excerpt
SUMMARY: After five months of political instability and uncertainty, Turkey is again under firm control of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party, which regained its majority in a national election Sunday. Supporters say it’s a return to stability, but opponents worry that the win signals a shift towards autocracy. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.
MALCOLM BRABANT (NewsHour): The call to prayer rang out around Central Istanbul today, reinforcing the message that after five months of political instability, Turkey is now back on a familiar track, under the firm control of the Islamic A.K., or A.K. Party, founded by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Political analysts here believe most Turks rejected the opposition parties because they needed a sense of security during a dangerous time. But not everyone in Taksim Square was happy.
MAN: Like I said, personally, I’m upset about what is going on. You don’t have to be asking normal citizens. I think everybody knows about how democracy goes on here in Turkey, so many prisoners. You can’t say what you’re thinking, exactly. I don’t feel free. I’m also a bit scared.
WOMAN (through interpreter): I think our people selected stability once again. And I think they decided well with a single-party government again.
MALCOLM BRABANT: As the A.K. Party celebrated last night, the prime minister urged his parliamentarians to employ humility, instead of triumphalism. President Erdogan wasn’t giving much away about his intentions today.
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President (through interpreter): The national will manifested itself on November 1 in favor of stability. After the short-term developments, the national will decided that there is no way out other than choosing stability. They decided in favor of stability. I hope this outcome will be good for our people and our country.
MALCOLM BRABANT: But international observers complained about election irregularities. Representing European election monitors, Andreas Gross urged President Erdogan to end Turkey’s divisions and to be less authoritarian.
ANDREAS GROSS, European Election Monitor: Fear is the enemy of democracy, enemy of free choice. And in this sense, we are disappointed of the quality of the process. And in light of this, it is even more vital that this is an appeal that the president works in the future for a more inclusive political process.
MALCOLM BRABANT: Leading Turkish political analyst Cengiz Aktar believes President Erdogan is now on course to get a referendum aimed at boosting his executive powers.
No comments:
Post a Comment