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Wednesday, May 17, 2023
What Happened In The Turkish National Election
What Happened In The Turkish National Election
Melik Kaylan
May 17, 2023,03:39pm EDT
The Turkish national election is upon us. The voting occurred on Sunday, May 14 and the count seemed to proceed with glitches that count as minor only in countries like Turkiye. That is to say, the government controls the media and imprisons rival leaders and controls the location of voting centers and the like. Plus, crucially, it controls the central voting authority, the YSK, with its own henchmen. Despite all that, Erdogan's AK party had the nerve to demand recounts early on in the big cities, which maneuver gave him a big lead for a long duration. But somehow all that was forgotten and as the count proceeded, state media and the election authority announced a bare 49% to 45 % lead for the ruling Erdo party, each side getting less than 50 %, requiring a run-off in two weeks. With almost 90% turnout, so the stats claimed. Erdo's party actually retained control of parlaiment in coalition with a far-right party. All which belied the run-up polling which had shown the opposition with a clear majority.
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