"In Istanbul, overjoyed ultra-nationalists took to the streets, waving
the party's three-crescent flag and chanting "Stand Kosovo, we are
coming!"
Ecevit's Party Leads in Turkey Vote
Sunday, 18 April 1999
A N K A R A , T U R K E Y (AP)
PRIME MINISTER Bulent Ecevit's secular party was leading Turkish
elections Sunday while an ultra-rightist group appeared to be making
stunning gains.
According to early results, the Islamic Virtue Party - the largest party
now in parliament - suffered a major decline in votes. Analysts said
that the party's friction with the staunchly secular military may have
led voters to abandon it and chose the ultra-nationalist movement,
which is also deeply religious.
With 35 percent of the vote counted, Ecevit's Democratic Left Party
had 23 percent of the vote. Ecevit, who has a good reputation,
appeared to be picking up votes from people angry over constant
scandals that have plagued previous governments.
"I am happy with this result," Ecevit said. "I think the period of using
religion for political purposes is over."
Virtue was taking only 16 percent of the vote, a sharp decline from
the 21 percent that its predecessor, the Welfare Party, garnered in
1995 to win parliamentary elections and eventually take power
before being pushed out by the military.
The Nationalist Movement Party was taking 17 percent of the vote.
In 1995, the party did not pass the 10 percent mark necessary to gain
seats.
Known as the MHP, the ultra-nationalist party, which will likely be
part of a future coalition, calls for no compromise with Kurdish
activists and appears to have benefited from the mid-February
capture of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.
MHP leader Devlet Bahceli appeared surprised by his party's strong
gains. People "were forced to make a new choice" because of
instability in the government and political corruption, he said.
In Istanbul, overjoyed ultra-nationalists took to the streets, waving
the party's three-crescent flag and chanting "Stand Kosovo, we are
coming!"
The plight of the millions of refugees who have fled the Yugoslav
province of Kosovo is a deeply emotional issue in Turkey. Turks
ruled the Balkans for hundreds of years during the Ottoman Empire,
and millions of Turks have Balkan ancestry.
Turkey has had six governments since 1995. An unstable coalition
government would make it difficult for the country, a NATO
member, to tackle economic reforms and would also undermine its
push to join the European Union.
It also would undermine the country's chance to ease tensions with
Greece and develop the southeast, where Kurdish guerrillas have
battled government forces for more than a decade.
In the southeast, the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, or
HADEP, appeared to be leading in the races for mayor of Diyarbakir
and Siirt, two of the largest cities in the Kurdish areas. The party,
however, was only taking about 3 percent of the vote.
The center-right Motherland Party took 14 percent of the early
ballots while the rival center-right True Path Party of former premier
Tansu Ciller garnered 11 percent.
Virtue Party candidates led in early results for the mayorships of
Istanbul and the capital, Ankara. The party took control of both of
those cities in the 1994 elections.
Results were broadcast on the private NTV television.
In downtown Ankara, Sukru Ozel, a supporter of the Nationalist
Movement, or MHP, was overjoyed with the results so far.
"That's wonderful," Ozel said. "The MHP is the only true
conservative party in Turkey. They worked very hard for this."
The party organized daily rallies in front of the Italian embassy in
November after Rome refused to extradite Ocalan to Turkey. Ocalan
later left Rome and was captured by Turkish commandos in Kenya.
Ilki Solcun, a 48-year-old housewife, said she voted for Ecevit
because "he is the only one I trust to fight the Virtue Party. He is a
real secularist."
All of the major secular parties agree on the need for a pro-Western
foreign policy and economic privatization. The major parties also all
support membership in NATO and participation in NATO air
operations against Yugoslavia. |
