GUL HAILS LOCAL ELECTIONS AS "ONE OF THE GOOD SIDES OF DEMOCRACY"
The final word in the weekend local elections belongs to the nation, said President Abdullah Gul yesterday. Speaking to reporters after polls closed nationwide, he said, "We're experiencing one of the good sides of democracy. Everyone says what they want to say." He added, "We're always proud that so far democracy in our country has worked in such a proper way, and what happened today went the same way." /Star/
IN LOCAL ELECTIONS, RULING AK PARTY DOES WELL, BUT FALLS SHORT OF 200 7 VICTORY MARGIN
The Turkish people yesterday went to the ballot box around the country to elect mayors and other local leaders. Nineteen political parties competed in the local elections, and around 48 million voters cast their votes at over 177,000 polling stations. According to unofficial results, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) did well nationwide, matching its performance in the last local elections of 2004, leaving its rivals far behind with around 40 percent of the vote. But this fell short of the party's victory in the July 2007 parliamentary elections, when it captured nearly 47 percent of the vote. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), the ruling party's closest rival, won around 23 percent of the national vote, while the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) won around 17 percent. The AK Party's greatest rival in eastern and southeastern Anatolia, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), received nearly 5 percent of the national vote and recaptured the Diyarbakir Greater Municipality. The AK Party won 10 of the 16 key greater municipalities in the country, including Ankara and Istanbul. The AK Party was challenged by the CHP in Istanbul, and by the CHP and MHP in Ankara. While the main opposition CHP attracted more votes in Istanbul, the opposition MHP saw its share of the vote in Ankara jump. The MHP also attracted more votes nationwide than in the last local elections, while the CHP held steady compared to 2004. While the CHP took the mayor seats in Antalya and Tekirdag from the AK Party, the ruling party regained the Trabzon mayor's seat, which it lost to the CHP in 2004. In the southeastern Sanliurfa Greater Municipality, an independent candidate previously affiliated with the AK Party won by a comfortable margin. When the party didn't renominate the mayor for this year's local elections, he decided to run as an independent candidate. /Turkiye/
ERDOGAN: "WE WILL LEARN FROM THE LOCAL ELECTIONS"
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will learn lessons from the outcome of the weekend local elections, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan early this morning. "We think it is important to take lessons from both successes and failures," he told reporters at AK Party headquarters. Erdogan said that the AK Party had struggled not only against the opposition but also certain media groups and the global economic crisis. Asked whether the election results for the AK Party were satisfactory, Erdogan said, "The current picture has not pleased me." Asked if the election results could trigger a Cabinet reshuffle, Erdogan said that such changes were made in the past, and added, "We will continue to make changes to the Cabinet in the future." /All Papers/
BBP'S YAZICIOGLU TO BE LAID TO REST TOMORROW IN STATE FUNERAL
Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazicioglu, who lost his life in a helicopter crash last Wednesday along with five other passengers, will be laid to rest in Ankara tomorrow. Wreckage of the helicopter, which crashed in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, was found on Friday by local villagers. One passenger, Ihlas News Agency (YHA) reporter Ismail Gunes, is still missing, and search and rescue teams are working to locate him. A memorial ceremony will be held for Yazicioglu and other crash victims in Parliament on Tuesday, followed by prayers at BBP headquarters. Yazicioglu will be buried in Ankara following funeral prayers at Kocatepe Mosque. In other news, the BBP won Yazicioglu's hometown, Sivas, in yesterday's local elections, the only locale won by the party. /Sabah/
US' OBAMA WANTS TO REVITALIZE ALLIANCE WITH TURKEY
US President Barack Obama wants to revitalize its alliance with Turkey, said White House Security Advisor Denis McDonough on Saturday. Speaking at a press conference, he talked about Obama's upcoming European tour, which will include Britain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Turkey. He said Turkey's importance for the US comes from its leadership in the region and the role it played in talks between Israel and Syria. McDonough said Turkey serves as a real bridge between Asia and Europe, adding that Obama was looking forward to focusing on these issues. /Hurriyet Daily News/
EU ASSURES TURKEY OF MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTS
The European Union told its Balkan neighbors and Turkey over the weekend that they remain on track for membership, saying it would open accession talks with Ankara on two more chapters before June. Speaking during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Hluboka nad Vltavou, the Czech Republic, the bloc's Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that talks on two chapters, taxation and social policy and employment, would be opened before Sweden takes over the presidency from the Czech Republic on June 1. In Saturday's meeting, the EU foreign ministers assured their counterparts from Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia and four other Western Balkan nations that the desire to bring them into the EU remains undiminished and that they remain on the membership path. "Enlargement is in the interest of Europe and the Balkans," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters. "The basic message" to the Balkan nations and Turkey is that their membership prospects remain on track, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said before the meeting. /Today's Zaman/
US' JEFFREY CALLS PKK "MAJOR FACTOR" IN REGION'S INSTABILITY
If the PKK fails to heed calls to lay down its arms, the United States will pursue alternative measures, said US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey yesterday. Speaking to Sabah daily, Jeffrey said the US is in constant contact with Turkey, Iraq, and the Kurdish regional administration, adding, "The most important issue in relations between them is the PKK, which a major factor in the region's instability." In related news, Deputy Assistant US Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew J. Bryza said that the winner of yesterday's Turkish local elections is democracy. In a statement issued after the elections, Bryza praised the polls as free and fair. "We see that democracy in Turkey is gaining strength," he added. "The political future of Turkey is determined by the will of the voters." / Hurriyet Daily News-Hurriyet/