Don Nawzar

We do need to strongly reject this fictional dichotomy and put forward the neuanc Turkish democracy is under a greater threat from populist parties with a tendency for racism and fascism than it is under a ruling party which concedes defeat even after 16 years of ruling!

Overall, the global media and ‘Turkey experts’ group have been able to portray Turkish politics in terms of ‘cute secular position against Islamist Sultan’ which is a purely ideological position The same media did the same thing during Morsi’s one year long presidency

But even if we blame AK Party’s rejection of 31 March results as a cause for the rerun, it isn’t undemocratic or without precedence Muharram Ince lost his parliamentary seat in Yalova with a small margin. Got a rerun and won!

Many would say but ‘AK Party forced to repeat the elections’ in Istanbul. It is not accurate. AK Party wanted a recount and a not a rerun. The decision to stop recount and go for a rerun was made by electoral commission which is independent of government.

That is why the only election dubbed in global media and ‘Turkey experts’ bunch as democratic was last night’s election. It’s also interesting to see how the ‘experts’ turned activists overnight

The ‘Turkey experts’ bunch and the global media have been a great aide to Turkish opposition in pushing their mythical claims on election nights That is why the only election described as a win for democracy in global media was last night’s! While democracy was always there!

The ‘Turkey experts’ bunch and the global media have been a great aide to Turkish opposition in pushing their mythical claims on election nights That is why the only election described as a win for democracy in global media was last night’s! While democracy was always there!

When Muharram Ince lost to Erdogan, he spent the night drinking and didn’t concede. His supporters took to Twitter and claimed he has won the election but being threatened to concede Global media reported the rumours! Election was put under doubt. He then rejected the rumours.

In 2015, when they lost miserably to AKParty, Turkish opposition parties claimed that Anadolu Agency was changing the results. Just by the end of the night, it became clear that their data & AA’s data matched. Then they shut up and never apologised.

While Yildirim admitted defeat without ifs and buts, Turkish opposition has always thrown out some rumour to blame electoral irregularities. ‘Electeicity was cut during ballot count’ is the most famously of their nonsensical excuses used not to concede!

Turkish opposition in all its different groupings have lost every single major election since 2001. Yet very single election night they have put doubt on the election process. At times they have called for street protests and not a single time they have ‘conceded’!

The difference between the way Turkish opposition deal with loss compared to how ruling AK Party dealt with it yesterday is staggering While Binali Yildirim conceded to his rival minutes in US style concession speech, AK Parti/Erdogan rivals were reluctant to do so in the past

Niqab isn’t a common religious practice amongst Kurds. Number of women wearing it could be in few hundreds. However, Education Minister’s public display of islamophobia is a reminder of the sick mentality entrenched in large swaths of Middle Eastern secular establishments

Istanbul was lost today to a populist candidate who represents a coalition of parties dominated by racists, Islamophobes & anti-refugees The fight against them is the intersection of MENA’s fight for democracy and European fight against populism

The xenophobic and racist nature of large swaths of Turkish opposition does not get covered by any global media outlets or activists in the ‘Turkey experts’ bunch It doesn’t serve the usual ‘cute secular opposition challenging Islamist Sultan’ discourse they want to push

Surreal! Minutes after opposition win in Istanbul, the hashtag #SuriyelilerDefoluyor (Syrians will f*** off) is now among top trending in Turkey! Let’s say it again: Turkish opposition is world’s most racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and hateful political grouping

Important statement from President Erdoganhttps://twitter.com/TRTWorldNow/status/1142862988585709568 …

10. Finally, Turkey needs to put the elections period behind! The pre-2023 period should be the phase of structural reform and strategic steps May God save the decent people in Middle East in palaces or prisons