ANKARA:
Turkey´s Premier 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.
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.
But in
Ankara the main opposition, the centre-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 warned. "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 stressed.
Months of political
turmoil -- fought out in fierce street clashes and the Internet leaks
-- have left Turkey deeply polarised 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, with
wide-ranging bribery and sleaze claims against the prime minister and
his political and business allies going viral in the youthful country.
The
spiralling 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
premier´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."Our democracy must be strengthened and cleansed," said Kemal
Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition CHP, as he cast his vote Sunday.
Despite
a round of reprimands from foreign powers and human rights groups, the
"results show us that Erdogan has survived these scandals with very
little damage," Mehmet Akif Okur of Ankara´s Gazi University told AFP.
"Voters believe that if Erdogan falls, they will fall with him. No
matter how serious the corruption allegations are, the voters supported
Erdogan to keep the status they have acquired under his rule," he
added."
Seeing that his ´authoritarian´ measures have not
hurt him at the ballot box, Erdogan will be more ambitious in pushing
through tougher policies. I would expect lawsuits against the Gulen
movement and arrests in the coming days. "Away from the national issues,
local rivalries that regularly flare up at elections in Turkey left at
least nine people dead Sunday.
