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July 30, 2007
Somehow it's been a month...
Sorry for the delay—I have to make sure to only post State-approved information, so there can be a bit of a delay sometimes!
The past week has probably been my busiest and most exciting so far. I went on a day trip to Bursa, worked in the Consular section, and got to see the results of the parliamentary elections! Not bad, huh?
Every time elections are held here the Consulate makes an effort to get to the biggest towns in our district to gauge governmental, voter, and party leadership attitudes. Our district includes Thrace and the Marmara region. We have a small consulate office in Izmir and a consulate in Adana and then of course the embassy in Ankara, so the work is divided. In addition to geographic distribution, we also divide topics by region. For example, in Istanbul we have someone who focuses on religious minorities because it is a population center for many minorities. Ankara and Adana (a city in the south, located close to the Syrian border) deal with ethnic human rights issues, including the Kurdish situation (among other issues), although each of the posts follows each of the issues to one degree or another, with particular attention to local groups and issues.
Anyway, even though it was very close to the election, we went to Bursa to have some last-minute meetings. Bursa is the fourth largest city in Turkey (2.5 million people) and a major hub for the automotive and textile industries. Since the 1980s it has become a destination for immigrants from northeastern Turkey and the Black Sea region. We had a full day of meeting with government officials and party leaders and a delicious Iskender Kebab lunch near the impressive Yesil Cami (Green Mosque). Iskender is famous in Bursa and is a tasty combination of bread, meat, tomato sauce, yoghurt, and melted butter. Ok, so it’s a little hard to explain to an American palate at first, but believe me it’s great! The meetings went well too, although they were pretty formal and reserved. Local officials are proud of the low unemployment rates in the region and the maintenance of order in spite of the influx of people. It was great to get out of the office and to go back to Bursa. I was there for a weekend last summer and so I got to do all the tourist sites and to buy the silk scarves that the region is famous for! I’m glad I did that before because with the number of meetings we had there definitely wasn’t time for shopping.
For the rest of the week I was in the Consular section, helping with visa interviews, but unfortunately my entry on that will have to be postponed until I get official approval from the office.
And finally the results are in! Almost. Final results from the Supreme Election Board have not yet been released, but as of now, preliminary results for yesterday’s parliamentary vote are as follows:
Justice and Development Party (AKP): 46.6%
Republican People’s Party (CHP): 20.8%
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP): 14.4%
There are also a number of independent candidates who made it into the parliament, but no other parties passed the 10% national threshold that is needed to win seats. These numbers are not official yet, but the results should be announced soon and will probably remain close to those above. Once the new parliament meets, its first task will be to try to elect a new president. It remains to be seen who the nominee will be but AKP falls short of the 367 seats needed for the quorum required to begin voting for the president. (See previous post on elections for more information). There has been lots of coverage in western media, including broadcasts on BBC news and articles in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. As the implications for this vote become clearer, I’ll be sure to write more.
Posted by Jill Luxenberg at July 30, 2007 01:51 AM
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