Election Campaign in Eastern Turkey - 2

This year, Kurdish activists as well as parties of the left who never manage to net over 10 percent as individual parties, have decided to collaborate on a project of independent candidates. In the Kurdish-majority areas of the east and south-east of Turkey, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) is fielding its own candidates, and in the metropoles of the West, Kurds and leftists are often collaborating with shared candidates.

In Van three candidates share constituency

In Van, three of the fourteen independent candidates are supported by the DTP, one of them a woman. While their chances of election are higher without the 10% hurdle, other problems arise. One is the fact that Van province represents one constituency. The votes for the independent candidates need to be carefully shared out in order to give them all a chance of winning. The party has thus divided Van into three areas unofficially. Fatma Kurtulan, the woman candidate, for instance, is asking for the pro-Kurdish votes in Van centre, while the other two candidates have divided up the other districts of Van.

Problem of illiteracy

Another problem is the relatively high illiteracy rate among the potential voters of the pro-Kurdish candidates, particularly among women. In the past, the ballot papers for independent candidates were separate pieces of paper, which were put in an envelope. Thus, it was relatively easy to vote for such a candidate. Now, however, the names of the candidates have been added to the main ballot paper with all the political parties. Parties have the advantage that they have emblems which can easily be recognised by people with poor reading skills. In addition, there are 11 independent candidates which are not affiliated with the DTP, but also listed next to them.

Campaigns to educate voters

Two mainstream national newspapers, as well as the local press, have reported on an initiative by Fatma Kurtulan to ensure that women vote for her and the other two pro-Kurdish candidates. 150 women volunteers have started showing women how to count rows until they get to their candidate, and they are painstakingly memorising the letters of the candidates.

Similar campaigns have apparently been started in Diyarbakir, the highly politicised Kurdish city in the south-east of Turkey. In the 2002 elections, DEHAP scored 56.13%, but the AKP with 15.96% and the CHP with 5.92% were apportioned 8 and 2 members of parliament respectively, despite netting less than half of the DEHAP's votes together. Pro-Kurdish activists have measured sample ballot papers with string and are advising illiterate voters to take that length of string with them to the polling station, thus finding their candidate. Another method is to cut a sheet of paper in the format of the ballot paper, with a hole cut where the voters stamp "yes".

This year, around a tenth of all candidates are independent, according to the Supreme Electoral Council (726 out of 7395).

Fewer chances of tampering?

The change in ballot papers was passed with cross-party support in parliament just earlier this year, leading to suggestions that mainstream parties were trying to sabotage the election of independent candidates. On the other hand, it can also be argued that there is less chance of tampering with ballot papers after the votes have been cast. In the old system, the envelopes with votes for independent candidates were thinner and thus could easily be taken out. In the new system, no one can know who has been voted for from just looking at the envelope. (AG/EÜ)