Turkey Goes to Polls Again After 5 Months…
54,075,851 people within the country will vote for November 1 general election of Turkey to elect 550 parliaments of 26th term. Votes abroad have exceeded 1,270,000.
Voting will continue between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. except for the cities below:
Adıyaman, Ağrı, Antep, Ardahan, Artvin, Batman, Bayburt, Bingöl, Bitlis, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzincan, Erzurum, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Hakkari, Iğdır, Kars, Kilis, Malatya, Maraş, Mardin, Muş, Ordu, Rize, Siirt, Sivas, Şırnak, Trabzon, Urfa, Van.
In these cities, voting will start at 7 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. due to early fading.
Abroad voters
Abroad voters will be able to vote at 30 border gates until 5 p.m. on November 1. Voting process at border gates began on October 8, 2015. The border gates people can vote are; Sarp, Kapıkule, İpsala, Hamzabeyli, Dilucu, Dereköy karayolu gümrük kapıları, Şakirpaşa, Esenboğa, Antalya, Eskişehir, Elazığ, Gaziantep, Hatay, Atatürk, Sabiha Gökçen, Adnan Menderes, Erkilet, Konya Askeri, Dalaman, Bodrum-Milas, Samsun, Trabzon, Zonguldak havalimanı gümrük kapıları, Kuşadası, Ayvalık, İzmir, Derince, Mersin, Taşucu, Bodrum, Samsun port border gate.
According to President of Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), Kudret Bülbül, votes abroad have exceeded 1, 270,000.
The turnout was 5 percent in 2011, 18 percent in 2014, and 36 percent in June 7 elections.
Call for snap election
25th general election was held on June 7, 2015. According to the constitution, the next election should have been held in 2019, four years later. However, none of the parties could receive sufficient vote to form a government alone and the President has called for a snap election. The decision was published on Official Gazette and the election date was set as November 1, 2015.
16 parties and independent candidates
In the election, 16 parties will compete for 550 seats in the parliament. The parties joining the election is as follows:
Justice and Development Party (AKP), Independent Turkey Party (BTP), Republican People's Party (CHP), Democratic Left Party (DSP), True Path Party (DYP), Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR), People's Lİberation Party (HKP),Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Communist Party (KP), Liberal Democrat Party (LDP), Nation Party (MP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Felicity Party (SP), Patriotic Party (Vatan Partisi).
Supreme Electioan Board (YSK) announced there are 21 independent candidates. Artist İbrahim Tatlıses waived the candidacy.
385,000 Police and gendarmerie forces
Center of Disaster and Emergency Management has been established in Security General Directorate, Gendarmerie General Command, and Interior Ministry.
385,000 police and gendarmerie forces will be on duty during the election. Leaves in these units have been cancelled. Special operations police too are tasked in eastern and southeastern region. Measures are being taken on the routes of ballot boxes.
International observers heeded HDP's call
Around 300 international observer will monitor elections in 19 cities notably Diyarbakır, Van, and İstanbul.
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has announced that its call for fair, transparent and a democratic election has achieved its objective and the observers are going to come tomorrow to monitor the election.
According to information HDP shared among the observers there are Left Party of France, Communist Party of France, European Parliament Greens Group, Catalan Assembly parliamentarians, Basqua Aralar Party, Left Party of Germany, AKEL Party of Cyprus, European Parliament United Left Party (GUE/NGL), Unions Confederation of Italy (COBAS), Socialist Party of Norway, Red Party of Norway, Socialist Rights Party of Denmark, Left Party of Sweden, lawyers and NGO representatives from the U.K. and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan from Iraqi Kurdistan.
Furthermore, local administrators, lawyers, students, journalists, academics, and students are also included in the committee. (EKN/TK)
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