In a country which has banned the free flow of information via social networks and other venues in order to preserve the corrupt government, why one would believe any official data is unclear, but for those who are curious, here are the early results from today's municipal elections (where eight people have already died [7] as fights broke out between rival candidates in two villages near the southeastern border with Syria): with 12.4% of ballots counted, the ruling AKP party appears to be a blowout victory, with 48.1% of the vote, while CHP has 24% and MHP is at 13.8%, based on CNNTurk reporting. Bloomberg confirms the official "results":
- TURKEY’S AKP LEADS WITH 50% OF VOTE AFTER 12% OF BALLOTS OPENED
- TURKEY RULING AK PARTY LEADS IN ANKARA, ISTANBUL: NTV
More from Euronews [7]:
The election is being viewed as a crisis referendum, say analysts on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 10-year-rule. He was not standing but criss-crossed the country in the build up to Sunday’s vote campaigning for his Justice and Development Party – the AKP. Tensions had risen in advance of the ballot and the PM was in a defiant mood when he cast his vote.
“So far in political rallies there have been undesirable statements and speeches, our public today will have the last word, they will express themselves. Despite those political meetings, their last word will be decisive,” he said.
Voting went ahead peacefully in most parts and the clashes which led to the eight deaths were over local council positions and not directly linked to the wider tensions in the country.
Erdogan is hoping the election will boost his standing after allegations of a corruption scandal and string of damaging security leaks.
The main opposition, the Republican People’s party portrays him as a corrupt dictator ready to hang on to power by any means.
The Islamist – rooted AK Party is aiming to equal or better its 2009 vote of 38.8 percent. A vote below the 36 percent mark would be considered a huge blow to the PM.
As expected, there are huge discrepancies between the numbers provided state run news agencies, and the pro-Gulen, Cihan, news agency. Its data, courtesy of Ilhan Tanir [8]is shown below:
Another way of showing the official data, is with live updates from the polls throughout Turkey: 19:34 - Turkey local election map as of now... (AKP: Yellow - CHP: Red - MHP: Maroon - BDP: Blue) (source [9])
[10]
And just in case there are those who don't buy the official "numbers", there is this:
- TURKISH POLICE STATION RIOT VEHICLES NEAR TAKSIM SQUARE: DHA
Perhaps the most memorable thing about these elections are the following protest photo by protest-group Femen [11].
#Turkey [12] begins voting & FEMEN protesters show up with “Ban Erdo?an” written on their chests. http://t.co/gvjYE7NNEH [13] pic.twitter.com/NZX1BDBjzd [14]
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) March 30, 2014 [15]
Erdo?an muhaliflere aylard?r "Sand?kta görü?elim" diyordu.
Bu bizim ilk uyar?m?z. Yak?nda tekrar görü?ürüz, Erdo?an! pic.twitter.com/9UT2kpiJ6F [16]
— FEMEN Turkey (@FEMEN_Turkey) March 30, 2014 [17]
"Ahlak" anlay???n?z yerin dibine bats?n! pic.twitter.com/p8SNq5BQUd [18]
— FEMEN Turkey (@FEMEN_Turkey) March 29, 2014 [19]