Election Diary – May 16, 2018

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Turkey’s 13th President will be determined with the snap election to be held on June 24, 2018. If absolute majority is not constituted, then the second tour will be held on July 8, 2018.

The elections developments that took place on May 16, Wednesday are:

AKP’s Babuşçu: Demirtaş should be released

Justice and Development Party (AKP) İstanbul MP Aziz Babuşçu has said, “I also think [HDP’s imprisoned presidential candidate Selahattin] Demirtaş should be released”:

“I also think Demirtaş should be released. After all, I don’t prefer a presidential candidate being kept in prison as election approaches. But this is about the mechanism of jurisdiction and law and they should make this decision. At the end of the day, it is not us but them to decide it”.

Buldan: No Kurd votes for Akşener

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-Chair Pervin Buldan defined statements calling for release of Demirtaş as an “election promise to receive votes of Kurdish people”.

“Why aren’t such statements made when Kurdish people suffer? Why aren’t such statements made when representatives of Kurdish people are arrested? We didn’t witness such statements by neither [Felicity Party Chair and presidential candidate Temel] Karamollaoğlu nor [İYİ Party Chair and presidential candidate Meral] Akşener. For this reason, we don’t find such promises convincing”.

Akşener: Turkey is like a bus that is about to tumble down the cliff

İYİ Party Chair and presidential candidate Meral Akşener made a statement for the press at İYİ Party Headquarters.

Drawing attention to the hike in foreign exchange, Akşener said, “Our country resembles a bus that is about to tumble down the cliff and there is a tired driver in that bus”.

“No sane person can say that the institutes, which are supposed to be independent, will be intervened after the election and cannot be fueled by fearing people. (…) Turkey has been governed by a person who cannot control what comes out of his mouth”. (EKN/TK)