Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory for his Islamic-rooted party in Sunday’s key local elections and warned his foes they will “pay the price” for plotting his downfall.
“Those who attacked Turkey got disappointed,” Erdogan told a jubilant crowd of thousands, speaking from the balcony of his party’s Ankara headquarters after months of turmoil marked by street clashes, sleaze claims and an Internet clampdown.
“You have supported your prime minister. I thank you infinitely,” Erdogan told the crowd, his voice still hoarse from marathon campaigning for the municipal polls that were seen as a referendum on his 11-year rule.
Photo: AFP
Erdogan, 60, has been eyeing a run for the presidency in August — the first time voters will directly elect the head of state — and his midnight victory speech sounded at times like the start of his next campaign.
“You have protected the independence struggle of the new Turkey,” the man often called “the sultan” told his flag-waving followers, interrupted by chants of “Turkey is proud of you,” “Stand tall, don’t bow” and “God is great.”
With 95 percent of all ballots counted, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) emerged well ahead of its rivals on 45 percent of the vote, with the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on 28.5 percent.
The AKP looked headed for strong victories nationwide, including in the biggest city, Istanbul, and the capital, Ankara, over the secular opposition.
However, in Ankara the main opposition, the center-left CHP, said the vote was close.
A definitive result in the capital awaited vote recounts, which were under way in some districts.
Erdogan again threatened to pursue his declared nemesis Fethullah Gulen, a reclusive Muslim cleric whom he accuses of running a parallel “deep state” undermining his government from faraway rural Pennsylvania.
Erdogan has accused loyalists of the 73-year-old imam in the police and justice systems of damaging leaks on Twitter and of bugging secret security talks on Syria before then releasing the explosive audio recording on YouTube.
“We will enter their caves and ... they will pay the price,” he said. “How can you threaten our national security on Syria? Syria is currently in a state of war against us.”
“There won’t be a state within a state,” he added.
Months of political turmoil — fought out in fierce street clashes and the Internet leaks — have left Turkey deeply polarized between Erdogan’s Muslim conservative supporters and a secular political camp.
Erdogan’s inner circle has been hit by the damaging online leaks since December last year, with wide-ranging bribery and sleaze claims against the prime minister, and his political and business allies, going viral in the youthful country.
The spiraling crisis has sent down the Turkish lira and stock market in recent months and rattled investors’ faith in a Muslim democracy that has often been described as a model for post-Arab Spring countries.
The prime minister’s heavy-handed response to being challenged on the streets and online has included a police crackdown on protesters in Istanbul that left eight dead and thousands wounded and arrested, and blocks on Twitter and YouTube.
The crackdown has alienated NATO allies, and detracted from Erdogan’s much-lauded record of driving an economic boom and transforming the country into an emerging global player.
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