TURKEY: Turkish leaders cast their vote in local elections

Record ID: 328870

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkish leaders cast their vote in local elections
  • Date: 30th March 2014
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (MARCH 30, 2014) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** TURKISH PRESIDENT ABDULLAH GUL SHAKING HANDS WITH OFFICIALS TRANSPARENT BALLOT BOX GUL CASTING HIS VOTE/MEDIA TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS TRANSPARENT BALLOT BOX FIRST LADY HAYRUNNISA GUL VOTING GUL SPEAKING TO MEDIA AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMEN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRESIDENT, ABDULLAH GUL, SAYING: "The electoral campaigns have been tough. But I want Turkish people to remember that our state is strong. State institutions are also strong. The problems we face will be resolved within a legal framework." CROWD WATCHING NEWS CONFERENCE GUL WALKING SURROUNDED BY MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 14th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA6N1UJWEYTMP1KIT6M71RD4SO
  • Story Text: Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu cast their votes on Sunday (March 30), in the country's local polls.
    "The electoral campaigns have been tough. But I want Turkish people to remember that our state is strong. State institutions are also strong. The problems we face will be resolved within a legal framework," Gul said after casting his vote in the capital, Ankara.
    Erdogan looks set to win Sunday's municipal elections that have become a crisis referendum on his 10-year rule as he tries to ward off graft allegations and stem a stream of damaging security leaks.
    Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party blame the leaks on "traitors" embedded in the Turkish state and he has been criss-crossing the nation of 77 million during weeks of hectic campaigning to rally his conservative core voters.
    "Despite all the undesired statements at rallies, today people will tell the truth and it will be beyond everything. People's words will be decisive rather than those who spoke at rallies. For me, people will make the final call and we respect people's decision," Erdogan told media gathered at a polling station in Istanbul.
    Erdogan has purged some 7,000 people from the judiciary and police since anti-graft raids in December targeting businessmen close to him and sons of ministers.
    He blames this on U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally, who he says is using supporters in the police to try to topple the government.
    AK's main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), portrays Erdogan as a corrupt dictator ready to hang on to power by any means.
    Capture of the capital Ankara or Istanbul would allow them to claim some form of victory.
    "I have always told people: 'Listen to your conscience and vote accordingly' I hope they will do that. I am happy, I cast my vote. Democracy in Turkey should be strengthened, it should be renewed. We will build it from the start. I trust my people. I trust their judgement. I hope the outcome will be good." Kilicdaroglu said after voting.
    AK, which swept to power in 2002 on a platform of eradicating the corruption that blights Turkish life, hopes on Sunday to equal or better its 2009 vote of 38.8 percent and markets have steadied this week in expectation of such a result.
    A vote of less than 36 percent, not considered likely, would be a huge blow for Erdogan and unleash AK power struggles.
    A vote of more than 45 percent, some fear, could herald a period of harsh reckoning with opponents in politics and state bodies.
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