Istanbul, June 7 (DHA) - The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has framed the June 7 election in Turkey as a key hurdle on the path to the powerful presidential system that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to introduce.
However, if the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) crosses the 10 percent election threshold, the number of AKP lawmakers will decrease considerably, making it almost impossible to reach the 330 seats necessary for a constitutional change.
The HDP has faced scores of physical attacks during its campaign. One of its campaign bus drivers, Hamdullah Öğe, was murdered on June 3, and three of its supporters were killed when twin bomb blasts hit its milestone rally in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on June 5.
Election safety has also been a hot item on the agenda during the campaign ahead of the vote, amid the opposition’s claims that there was fraud in the vote counting process. The government has strictly denied the claim and mobilized a total of 404,000 security personnel to maintain security throughout the day of the election.
Here are the live updates:
2:55 p.m. - Several citizens who were injured when twin bomb blasts hit HDP's rally in Diyarbakır on June 5 cast their votes. "Both of my feet were broken in the bomb attack. I would still vote if both of them had chopped off," 59-year-old Sabahattin Bekçi said, stressing that he casts his vote "for peace and freedoms."
2:20 p.m. - President Tayyip Erdoğan casts his vote in Istanbul. “I observe that there is a high turnout [at the polls]. Thus this is a necessary situation for a strong democracy” he said.
2.19 p.m. - Republican People's Party (CHP) chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu casts his vote in Ankara. “The campaign period was unequal. Turkey and the rest of the world know this. Nevertheless, we worked, and will continue to work, with a sense of responsibility” he said.
1:20 p.m. - A brawl at a voting center in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa has left 15 people injured. Party representatives at the ballot box in the Eyyübiye district of Şanlıurfa clashed with rifles, knives, clubs and stones.
12:40 p.m. - Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, whose term as a parliamentarian ends today, reassures public that all measures have been taken to prevent any power blackouts during the vote-counting process as seen in last year's local elections. "I'll be working until morning to inspect whether the measures work" he has told reporters. Yıldız was criticized when he said in March 2014 that the controversial blackouts were caused by a cat that had entered a power distribution unit.
12:15 p.m. - Turkish social media discusses how HDP co-chair Demirtaş cast his vote. The exaggeratedly calm way he threw his envelope into the box has widely been perceived as a mocking reference to Egemen Bağış, Turkey's former EU minister, who had raised eyebrows by how he cast his vote during the parliamentary poll that would drop graft allegations targeting him and other ministers in January 2015.
12:08 p.m. - Private broadcaster CNNTürk reports the turnout in the most populous southeastern province, Diyarbakır, is likely to exceed 90 percent, as long lines have been observed in polling centers since early morning.
11:56 a.m. - Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chair Devlet Bahçeli casts his vote in Ankara. "I wish that the election results would be beneficial for our country" he said.
12:08 p.m. - Private broadcaster CNNTürk reports that the turnout in the most populous southeastern province, Diyarbakır, is likely to exceed 90 percent, as long lines have been observed in polling centers since early morning.
11:56 a.m. - The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chair Devlet Bahçeli casts his vote in Ankara. "I wish that the election results would be beneficial for our country" he said.
11:10 a.m. - Prime Minister and AKP chair Ahmet Davutoğlu casts his vote in the central Anatolian province of Konya, his hometown. While speaking to reporters, he announced that a suspect has been detained in connection to the bombing of the HDP’s Diyarbakır rally on June 5.
10:35 a.m. - HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş casts his vote in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli neighborhood. “Whatever the election results will be, nobody should lose their hope. We want this election to prepare the ground for a new constitution that will guarantee that nobody will feel alienated” he said.
10:25 a.m. - HDP co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ casts his vote in the eastern province of Van. "God willing, the results will be the beneficial for the whole Turkey and can open the doors of the future" she said.
9:00 a.m. - The turnout in the southeastern provinces of Batman, Şırnak and Tunceli is high, as long lines have been observed in polling centers. High turnout rates have also been reported in the Thracian provinces of Edirne and Kırklareli.
8:00 a.m. - Voting has begun across Turkey in all of its 81 provinces in 174,236 ballot boxes.
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