WTF is happening in the Turkish local elections?

[DDR]

After the corruption probe, the internet censorship, the false flag scandal and other stuff Turkey is voting. The recount so far has been: 8 dead, 30 something injured, 45 cities in a power blackout, lots calls of foul and riggering and of course everybody candidate is shouting "I won".

So, could someone be so kind to explain wtf is going on? How's the people's mood about all this stuff?

[Devrim]

It is a massive victory for the AKP. With 68% of the vote counted, they have received 43% of the votes. This graphic updates automatically with the latest results.

Devrim

[Sasha]

Are they gonna hold on to Istanbul and Ankara too?

[Devrim]

Are they gonna hold on to Istanbul and Ankara too?

Yes, easily. The link above doesn't seem to work. This one has all the details: http://www.cnnturk.com/secim2014/

If you scroll down there is a map, and if you hold the cursor over it, it shows the winner in each province.
Devrim

[Dodo]

Ankara has 3000 differene at 85% of votes but İstanbul they smashed.

[Sasha]

Blog post detailing various fraud cases; http://www.sendika.org/2014/03/turke...-ballot-boxes/

[Tim Cornelis]

Aaaw yeaah TKP and ÖDP won one seat each. ¡Viva la Revolución!

[Worker-Karker-İşçi]

Maoist Communist Party's legal organiztion Democratic Rights Federation entered the election from TKP and ÖDP lists in Dersim (They are very active in the region. Also they guerillas at there too)

And they win the Mazgirt and Ovacık.

I am suprised by the performance of AKP.

[khad]

After the corruption probe, the internet censorship, the false flag scandal and other stuff Turkey is voting. The recount so far has been: 8 dead, 30 something injured, 45 cities in a power blackout, lots calls of foul and riggering and of course everybody candidate is shouting "I won".

So, could someone be so kind to explain wtf is going on? How's the people's mood about all this stuff?

Just assume that the Sultan owns their souls now and forever. AKP is simply too big with too much of a hardcore base to take down by conventional means.

[revani]

Dead and wounded people has nothing to do with real elections. These were killed in fights for 'Muhtar' (revee or sheriff like position, very local) elections.

Ankara isn't lost to AKP (JDP) right now. Although the unofficial results state that AKP has won, CHP (RPP) objects to these results. The official results will be published after these objections are resolved.

But still, the rival of AKP in Ankara is CHP and their candidate (Mansur Yavas) has fascist/racist origins (MHP, National Movement Party). So, even if AKP doesn't eventually win in Ankara, we will still lose

[Tim Cornelis]

So apparently I misread. ÖDP and TKP didn't win one seat, but one province. That's sorta awesome I guess. Pretty saddening to see the rise of the MHP.

[revani]

So apparently I misread. ÖDP and TKP didn't win one seat, but one province. That's sorta awesome I guess. Pretty saddening to see the rise of the MHP.

Yeah, but in the overall votes, MHP's previous votes slided to AKP (and in some provinces such as Istanbul and Ankara, CHP).

The more concerning matter is that IP (Worker's party, a nazi organization) is also on the rise due to the fact that CHP cannot satisfy their ultra-nationalist members.

And I think the pictures you've shared are quite misleading. AKP didn't lose the support of the overall masses, the results clearly show that AKP has won the vote of confidence.

[Tim Cornelis]

Yeah, but in the overall votes, MHP's previous votes slided to AKP (and in some provinces such as Istanbul and Ankara, CHP).

The more concerning matter is that IP (Worker's party, a nazi organization) is also on the rise due to the fact that CHP cannot satisfy their ultra-nationalist members.

And I think the pictures you've shared are quite misleading. AKP didn't lose the support of the overall masses, the results clearly show that AKP has won the vote of confidence.

I've noticed that 'fascist' in Turkey is even more a meaningless buzzword than elsewhere. Calling the IP a nazi organisation appears utterly unsubstantiated as well. It has horrible politics, but it's not a nazi organisation. Also, it has received 0.25% of the votes, hardly chewed away any of the electorate of the CHP.

[Devrim]

dp

[Devrim]

So apparently I misread. ÖDP and TKP didn't win one seat, but one province.

It is not province. The Turkish word is 'Ilçe', which is more like town than province. It is difficult to translate things exactly because there are different political systems, but Turkey has 81 'vilayet' or 'İl', which is what I would translate as province, and 957 'İlçe', which I would translate as something like the English 'town'.

That's sorta awesome I guess.

I am not quite sure why an anarchist sees this as awesome.

The more concerning matter is that IP (Worker's party, a nazi organization) is also on the rise due to the fact that CHP cannot satisfy their ultra-nationalist members.

Perhaps you could charecterise İP as fascist, but not Nazi. It doesn't really make much sense.

Devrim

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

The more concerning matter is that IP (Worker's party, a nazi organization) is also on the rise due to the fact that CHP cannot satisfy their ultra-nationalist members.

How is the IP a fascist or Nazi organisation (I think the two terms are pretty much synonymous, pace Devrim)? From what I can tell - and bear in mind I'm not exactly an expert on Turkish politics - they seem to be weird nationalist semi-Maoists. They seem to be more like Mengistu than Mussolini to be honest.

[Devrim]

How is the IP a fascist or Nazi organisation (I think the two terms are pretty much synonymous, pace Devrim)? From what I can tell - and bear in mind I'm not exactly an expert on Turkish politics - they seem to be weird nationalist semi-Maoists. They seem to be more like Mengistu than Mussolini to be honest.

I don't think that the two terms are synonymous. I think that Mussolini was a fascist, but I don't think he was a Nazi. I don't think that there are any Nazis today in the same way that there aren't any Bolsheviks. I can understand the term 'neo-Nazi', but I would take it to me the sort of groups obsessed with swastikas and Nazi paraphernalia. To me fascist has a broader meaning. Regardless, none of the nationalists in Turkey have any Nazi imagery.

The word fascist is widely used in Turkish politics. Originally, it was used to describe the MHP, and similar groups. I have also seen it used to describe, at various points by various people, AKP, CHP, and İP.

The Workers' Party was once a Maoist outfit until it decided that Turkey was an 'oppressed nation'. They then started openly collaborating with the 'ultra-nationalist'/'fascist'/whatever you want to call them, MHP, and writing theoretical articles that proclaimed things like "Today there is no left or right, only patriots". I think you could characterise them as fascist. I wouldn't because I think it is a bit of an over used buzzword in Turkish politics, but the cap certainly fits.

Devrim

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

I don't think that the two terms are synonymous. I think that Mussolini was a fascist, but I don't think he was a Nazi. I don't think that there are any Nazis today in the same way that there aren't any Bolsheviks. I can understand the term 'neo-Nazi', but I would take it to me the sort of groups obsessed with swastikas and Nazi paraphernalia. To me fascist has a broader meaning. Regardless, none of the nationalists in Turkey have any Nazi imagery.

The word fascist is widely used in Turkish politics. Originally, it was used to describe the MHP, and similar groups. I have also seen it used to describe, at various points by various people, AKP, CHP, and İP.

The Workers' Party was once a Maoist outfit until it decided that Turkey was an 'oppressed nation'. They then started openly collaborating with the 'ultra-nationalist'/'fascist'/whatever you want to call them, MHP, and writing theoretical articles that proclaimed things like "Today there is no left or right, only patriots". I think you could characterise them as fascist. I wouldn't because I think it is a bit of an over used buzzword in Turkish politics, but the cap certainly fits.

Devrim

I'm curious, what do you see as the chief difference between Nazis and fascists in general? I don't think this is a big political difference, but I'm interested in your perspective.

As for the IP, I see what you mean. It seems my information was hopelessly outdated (and I never meant to defend the IP - they always seemed like an extremely nationalist group). I suppose they're the Turkish equivalent of the Brazilian MR8 group. I don't think they are fascist, but I think fascism requires mass political mobilisation. Proto-fascist, at best (worst?).

[Tim Cornelis]

It is not province. The Turkish word is 'Ilçe', which is more like town than province. It is difficult to translate things exactly because there are different political systems, but Turkey has 81 'vilayet' or 'İl', which is what I would translate as province, and 957 'İlçe', which I would translate as something like the English 'town'.

I was sure I edited to municipality, there's even an edit log below the post, but apparently not.

I am not quite sure why an anarchist sees this as awesome.

Again, I'm not an anarchist. But I presumed that winning a municipality involves between 30-60% of the votes. Having such a percentage of votes and a small leftist enclave is sorta awesome for romantic reasons, not political ones. Hence the 'sorta'.

[revani]

Perhaps you could charecterise İP as fascist, but not Nazi. It doesn't really make much sense.

Yeah, Nazi wasn't the right word for them. Sorry for being careless.

As for them being fascists:

1- They are supported by some capitalists (not the most reactionary as dimitrov would say)
2- Their militants literally attack revolutionaries whenever possible. I had to defend myself and my comrades two times from their attack. They think illegal communist parties are led by CIA.
3- There are rumors that some of their members (in high positions) are secret agents in national intelligence agency
4- They organized campaigns not to buy anything from Kurdish markets (has nothing to do with fascism but still bad )
5- Rumors say that they are being trained in martial arts. I cannot confirm that but I should say that no matter how hard you beat an IP member, he/she still can stand up and keep fighting. Fighting against IP members are harder than fighting against police in Turkey.

I don't know if this term is used anywhere outside Turkey but the leftists call IP members "counter-guerilla".


Edit: The rise or fall of IP cannot be deducted from the election results. 108 army members (some of them retired) recently joined IP. I don't think IP will get enough support to perform a coup anytime soon. But still, the stronger they are, the harder they attack revolutionaries.