DAR AL ISLAM - TURKEY: "WE ARE VERY HAPPY...ALLAH WILLING, GREAT DAYS AWAIT US"

Islamists win Turkish elections
Jul 23 2007
icWales

TURKEY'S Islamic-rooted ruling party won parliamentary elections by a big margin tonight in a contest that had pitted the government against opponents warning of a threat to secular traditions.

The victory by the Justice and Development Party signalLed continuity in economic reforms and in Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union. However, the new government was likely to face persistent tension over the role of Islam in society, and questions about how to deal with Kurdish rebel violence.

The ruling party returned to power with a smaller majority than it had won in 2002 elections, but its officials expressed surprise with how well they did in an election called early to defuse a showdown with the military-backed, secular establishment.

Mehmet Ali Sahin, a deputy prime minister, said he had expected the ruling party to win between 305 and 310 seats in the 550-member Parliament, a reduction from the nearly two-thirds majority it had before.

Instead, with more than 96% of votes counted, television news channels were projecting the ruling party had won 342 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 minority won 23 of the remaining 26 seats, the stations said.

Ruling party supporters clapped, danced and waved flags depicting the party symbol, a light bulb, outside the party’s office in Istanbul. They chanted the name of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In Ankara, the capital, a jubilant crowd of several hundred 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.” Many people cut short vacations to head home to cast their ballots, and lines at some polling stations were long. In Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city, police stood guard outside schools serving as polling stations.

Turkey has made big strides after the economic and political chaos of past decades, but some feared the vote could deepen divisions in the mostly Muslim nation of 70 million.
After the victory, Erdogan addressed supporters at the rally in Ankara, vowing to work for national unity.

“Democracy has passed a very important test,” Erdogan said. “Whoever you have voted for ... We respect your choices. We regard your differences as part of our pluralist democracy. It is our responsibility to safeguard this richness.”

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