Turkey: Emergency State Extended amid Protests over Disputed Poll, Analyst Warns of Manipulation

Local Editor

Turkey’s cabinet extended a state of emergency in the country for another three months just one day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a referendum extending his executive powers.

The state of emergency was initially imposed following a failed coup in the country on July 15. Since then, it has already been extended twice.

The decision for the third extension was made late on Monday, following a meeting of the National Security Council [MGK] chaired by Erdogan.

“The recommendation was considered and the Council of Ministers signed to extend the state of emergency for another three months from Wednesday,” Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.

Kurtulmus stressed that the extension was aimed at empowering the government to “fight against terrorist groups.”

“In this struggle, whatever is necessary will be done.”

Erdogan on Monday angrily rejected criticism by international monitors of a referendum granting him extra powers that was disputed by the opposition and exposed bitter divisions in the country.

Returning in triumph to his presidential palace in Ankara, Erdogan addressed thousands of supporters gathered outside, telling monitors who criticized the poll: “Know your place.”

Showing no sign of pulling his punches, Erdogan said Turkey could hold further referendums on its EU bid and re-introducing the death penalty.

It was earlier on Sunday that the ‘Yes’ camp won 51.41 percent in the referendum, according to complete results released by election authorities.

On the other hand, thousands of supporters of the ‘No’ campaign in the referendum on granting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greater powers took to the streets of Istanbul late Monday to protest alleged poll violations.

At least 1,000 protesters thronged Besiktas on the European side of the city while on the Asian side around 2,000 demonstrators marched through Kadikoy, another staunchly secular and anti-Erdogan neighborhood, AFP correspondents said.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party [CHP] and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party [HDP] said they would challenge the results from most ballot boxes due to alleged violations.

There has been anger among ‘No’ supporters over last minute changes to the voting procedures but the authorities insist the referendum was conducted cleanly.

It was earlier on Sunday that the ‘Yes’ camp won 51.41 percent in the referendum, according to complete results released by election authorities.

Respectively, Austrian member of the Council of Europe observer mission, Alev Korun, told ORF radio Tuesday that up to 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated in Sunday’s Turkish referendum which ended in a tight ‘Yes’ vote for greater presidential powers.

The mission of observers from the 47-member Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights body, had already said the referendum was an uneven contest. Support for “Yes” dominated campaign coverage, and the arrests of journalists and closure of media outlets silenced other views, the monitors said.

But Korun said there were questions about the actual voting as well.

“This is about the fact that actually the law only allows official voting envelopes. The highest election authority decided however — as it were, against the law — that envelopes without official stamp should be admitted,” she said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

18-04-2017 | 10:45

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Egyptian approve ‘Islamic Constitution’, really!

Posted on December 26, 2012 |

On Tuesday, the civilized world was shocked to learn that 63.8% Egyptian voters said yes to president Morsi’s blessed Islamic Consitution based on horrible Biblical punishments and Talmudic racism against non-Muslims with no freedom of speech as per American Hate Law.

Yes sir, you heard me right. The scary ‘Islamic Constitution’ recognizes Jewish occupation of Palestine, West’s right to exploit country’s natural resources and bring pro-Israel regime changes in Egypt’s antisemite neighbors – allows country’s Christian minorities to build new churches and preach their religion among Muslim majority and half-naked tourists to enjoy country’s beautiful beeches. It also allows top military officials to visit United States and Israel for “strategic consultation” and learn how to control “Islamic terrorism” against the US and Israeli interests.

But since the Constitution was drafted by members of anti-West-Israel Muslim Brotherhood - it cannot be compatible with the western democracies, religious tolerance or freedom of speech including the 15 European nations where challenging the Holocaust figures (six million) is a crime punishable with 3-year in jail.

Abul Maati, president of the National Electoral Commission, has rejected the Islamophobe opposition claims that the refrendum was supervised by fake judges – one of many allegations of polling fraud.

The opposition groups showed their curious sense of democratic process. They decided to boycott the referendum because they did not like the words “Islam” and “Islamic” in the drafted Constitution. So instead of fighting the Shari’ah-based draft – they let it win hands-down!

When America’s top Muslim-hating bigot Jew like David Horowitz’s website FrontPage calls Egyptian Constitution being based on Islamic Shari’ah – one can figure out how Islamic it could be.
Jewish professor Juan Cole made an antisemitic observation on his blog ‘Informed Comment’ on December 25 – that Israel have posed the greatest threat to the Christian minorities in the Middle East – while “Christians in Egypt have clearly been invigorated by the new press and political freedoms in post-Mubarak Egypt, and are gaining an important set of political voices“.

“Israeli occupation has made life in East Jerusalem and the West Bank increasingly unbearable, spurring emigration abroad of Palestinian Christians, who once made up 10 to 20 percent of the Palestinian population. Because they are Christians, these Palestinians may find it easier to get visas to the West,” wrote Juan Cole. Christians population in Israel has been reduced to less than 1%. In Gaza Strip, Christians make 1.9% of the total 1.5 million population.

Mark Glenn, American Catholic writer, author and radio talk-show host, once left this comment on this blog: “As a Christian I can state without reservation that the only hope Christian civilization has of being rescued from eventual destruction by Jewish interests is by allying itself with the Muslim world“.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
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Top Judge Attacked as Egyptians Await Referendum Results

Local Editor

The chairman of the Supreme Board of Judges of Egypt Ahmed al-Zend was attacked in Cairo as Egyptians were waiting for the official results of the referendum.

About 15 masked men threw stones at him and according to some reports the attackers also used firearms in an undisclosed manner during the attack and caused him to minor injuries.
The police detained three suspects.

The incident occurred after a press conference at the headquarters of the Board of Judges, at which the chairman sharply criticized the vote on a new constitution.

Al-Zend is one of the main opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi.

The attack comes as Egypt was awaiting official results of a referendum on a new constitution reportedly backed by two-thirds of voters but which the opposition said was riddled with fraud.

No official date has been fixed for the final polling figures, a member of the electoral commission, Mohamed el-Tanobly, told AFP. "We are examining the complaints and we will tally the results," he said, adding that all the alleged irregularities would be studied, so that the referendum "really reflects the will of the Egyptian people."

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
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