Daily Sabah logo

Politics
Diplomacy Legislation War On Terror EU Affairs Elections News Analysis
TÜRKİYE
Istanbul Education Investigations Minorities Expat Corner Diaspora
World
Mid-East Europe Americas Asia Pacific Africa Syrian Crisis Islamophobia
Business
Automotive Economy Energy Finance Tourism Tech Defense Transportation News Analysis
Lifestyle
Health Environment Travel Food Fashion Science Religion History Feature Expat Corner
Arts
Cinema Music Events Portrait Reviews Performing Arts
Sports
Football Basketball Motorsports Tennis
Opinion
Columns Op-Ed Reader's Corner Editorial
PHOTO GALLERY
JOBS ABOUT US RSS PRIVACY CONTACT US
© Turkuvaz Haberleşme ve Yayıncılık 2023

Daily Sabah logo

عربي
  • Politics
    • Diplomacy
    • Legislation
    • War On Terror
    • EU Affairs
    • Elections
    • News Analysis
  • TÜRKİYE
    • Istanbul
    • Education
    • Investigations
    • Minorities
    • Expat Corner
    • Diaspora
  • World
    • Mid-East
    • Europe
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Africa
    • Syrian Crisis
    • Islamophobia
  • Business
    • Automotive
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Finance
    • Tourism
    • Tech
    • Defense
    • Transportation
    • News Analysis
  • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Science
    • Religion
    • History
    • Feature
    • Expat Corner
  • Arts
    • Cinema
    • Music
    • Events
    • Portrait
    • Reviews
    • Performing Arts
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Motorsports
    • Tennis
  • Gallery
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Op-Ed
    • Reader's Corner
    • Editorial
  • TV

The West is already trying to discredit Turkish polls

by İlnur Çevik

Apr 24, 2018 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by İlnur Çevik Apr 24, 2018 12:00 am

An American official spokesman says they already have concerns that the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24 will be flawed because the polls will be held under a state of emergency.

In Europe the Netherlands and Austria are banning any campaigning for the Turks who live in their respective countries and have a right to vote in the Turkish polls.

It all boil downs to the fact that the Western leaders see clearly that the democratic elections in Turkey will produce yet another Erdoğan administration and they simply do not want to stomach this. Thus they will once again do everything to interfere in the elections campaign, in the Turkish polls and thus Turkey's domestic affairs.

These are the same leaders and administrations that actively rallied against the changing of the constitution in 2017 that ushered Turkey into a presidential system of government.

These leaders see very clearly that the election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the first president of the new system is a foregone conclusion and they see that the people they support in opposition are in complete disarray, are clumsy and weak and thus they will make no impact in the June 24 polls. So they opt to stall Erdoğan in a war of attrition.

This is all wrong. Turkey is a part of the Western alliance system and thus is a viable democracy that has been functioning quite well in the past 16 years despite excessive outside interference. Turkey has had to take extraordinary measures simply because it was subjected to numerous shocks, the last being the bloody coup attempt of July 15, 2016. Before that Turkey has had to endure deadly suicide bomb attacks, an uprising in some cities and townships in southeastern Turkey instigated by the PKK terrorists, and its judiciary and some security units were hijacked by the Gülenist terrorist organization.

The Western leaders have declared state of emergency in their own countries and have gone to elections under such rule like in France. So it is hardly a valid argument accusing Turkey of holding elections under state of emergency.

On the contrary the fact that we have a state of emergency, especially in southeastern Turkey, will eliminate any chance by the PKK to hijack the elections in those regions. They will not be able to intimidate our citizens in the region to vote for pro-PKK candidates. Yet it seems the Western powers feel the PKK should be allowed to dominate these elections in the southeastern provinces and thus bring PKK militants into the Turkish parliament who will do nothing but stage violent scenes in Parliament and disrupt the democratic process.

Turkish elections are one of the best democratic exercises in the Western political scene. Turkish people spontaneously flock to the polling stations and our participation rates are never below the 80 percent mark. Yet in Europe this is all the way down to 35 percent which means the governments are hardly representative of the masses.

Turkish polls despite Western interference and some distractions by the opposition parties will be fair and square. And public opinion polls show Erdoğan will be elected head of the executive most probably in the first round. The West has to start looking into the prospects of living with Erdoğan instead of trying to get rid of this through anti-democratic means.

  • shortlink copied
  • RELATED TOPICS
    fight-against-terrorism DEUTSCHE-BANK US-LIBYA-RELATIONS
    The Daily Sabah Newsletter
    Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey, it’s region and the world.
    You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
    No Image
    In photos: The surface of Mars
    PHOTOGALLERY
    • POLITICS
    • Diplomacy
    • Legislation
    • War On Terror
    • EU Affairs
    • News Analysis
    • TÜRKİYE
    • Istanbul
    • Education
    • Investigations
    • Minorities
    • Diaspora
    • World
    • Mid-East
    • Europe
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Africa
    • Syrian Crisis
    • İslamophobia
    • Business
    • Automotive
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Finance
    • Tourism
    • Tech
    • Defense
    • Transportation
    • News Analysis
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Travel
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Science
    • Religion
    • History
    • Feature
    • Expat Corner
    • Arts
    • Cinema
    • Music
    • Events
    • Portrait
    • Performing Arts
    • Reviews
    • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Motorsports
    • Tennis
    • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Op-Ed
    • Reader's Corner
    • Editorial
    • Photo gallery
    • Jobs
    • privacy
    • about us
    • contact us
    • RSS
    © Turkuvaz Haberleşme ve Yayıncılık 2021