Single-party government might again be established in Turkey
May 21, 2011 – 16:46 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Six senior politicians in a Turkish opposition party
resigned on Saturday amid a sex video scandal that could have
far-reaching consequences in elections on June 12.
Turkish media said the Nationalist Action Party lawmakers were shown
on compromising videos released on the Internet. Four top members of
the hardline nationalist group resigned earlier this month because of
similar videos.
A shadowy group calling itself “Different Nationalists” released the
videos, triggering accusations from the Nationalist Action Party that
supporters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan were trying to
undermine the party. Erdogan’s party has denied the allegation.
Surveys show the party is hovering around a 10 percent support
threshold designed to exclude smaller parties from parliament. If it
fails to pass the 10 percent barrier, its votes would be redistributed
among parties represented in parliament, handing even more power to
Erdogan’s ruling party.
The ruling party appears to be easily heading toward a third term in
office, but it is aiming for an overwhelming majority that would allow
it to rewrite Turkey’s constitution.
Turkish authorities have moved to block access to the videos.
“It is up to the party to deal with its internal affairs,” Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on NTV television. “As unethical as they
may be, I do not believe releasing those videos is correct behavior,
judging from a humanitarian perspective.”
One video that shows a Nationalist Action Party lawmaker having sex is
followed by an on-screen message for his party that urges “everybody
from head to toe in the management” to resign. . Last year, Deniz
Baykal, the longtime leader of Turkey’s secular main opposition party,
stepped down as chairman after a secretly taped video allegedly showed
he was having an affair. Baykal claimed he was a victim of a political
plot by the government. Prosecutors launched an investigation but have
not found the perpetrator, The Associated Press reported.