But the army’s attacks on PKK bases on the other side of the frontier have only been delayed in the wait for an agreed solution with Baghdad and Washington. Great anticipation ahead of tomorrows vote, predicted to be a landslide victory for Erdogan’s AKP, to see if minority parties succeed in breaking the 10% cut off point.

Ankara (AsiaNews) – There is great anticipation ahead of tomorrows crucial vote in Turkey, not so much for the victorious party which most observers predict will be premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s moderate Islamic AKP – as for the performance of the CHP, the leading republican secular party – founded in 1923 by Ataturk,  founder of modern Turkey – and above all to see if the other parties will succeed in overcoming the 10% cut off point and thus unblock the current political stalemate between the two rival parties.

 

Beneath the surface, immediately after the vote, the Turkish army is seeking political go ahead for its desired raid on the other side of the Iraqi border, in search of Kurdish PKK “terrorists”, who Turkey accuses of have safe havens in Northern Iraq.

 

The question has long been at the centre public discussion and of Baghdad’s and Washington’s concerns, the latter stepping up pressure to stop the Turks.

 

Yesterday, Erdogan has said that the elections have forced them to delay the visit to Turkey of Iraqi Premier of Kurdish origins,  Naouri al-Maliki .The premier added that Turkey, Iraq and the United States want to discuss the Kurdish question, but has repeated that in the absence of an acceptable solution, his country will have no other option than military intervention.

 

Last week, Erdogan had already demonstrated his willingness to put the decision to a parliamentary vote, in the course of his meeting with the President of the republic, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who expressed his concern as well as that of the majority of the public regarding the government’s inactivity over the PKK. The elections – and US pressure- cause the delay of military action.  But only by a few short weeks.

 

Naturally the result of the vote will influence the situation particularly that of AKP.  Strange as it may seem the “moderate Islamic party” is the most western leaning, even tough it is an expression of the less educated more “Arab” based population, while the “secular” CHP – an expression of the bureaucratic and military establishment – is substantially anti-western.  It is no small chance that the main supporter of Turkey’s entrance into Europe is indeed Erdogan’s party.

 

• TURKEY
• ELECTION
• VOTE
• AKP
• CHP
• IRAQ
• WASHINGTON
• PARLIAMENT
• ARAB