TURKEY: GENERAL ELECTION LATEST UPDATE

Описание: (19 Apr 1999) Turkish/Nat

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit tendered his resignation following elections on Sunday.

His party presently has a narrow lead in election counting, and the constitution requires that the Prime Minister resigns in order for a new government to be formed.

Nationalist parties have dominated the elections as voters turned away from the Islamic movement that had challenged the country's secular principles.

Analysts suggest that Ecevit's democratic left party, DSP, could conceively form a coalition with the ultra right wing Nationalist Movement Party or MHP, despite their widespread differences.

The MHP, led by Devlet Bacheli has taken 18 percent of the vote, more than doubling their support since 1995.

Supporters of the Nationalist Movement party or Grey Wolves as they known have been celebrating their rise to prominence.

With 65 percent of the vote counted, they've won 18 percent, second only to the Democratic Left Party led by Bulent Ecevit.

Mr Ecevit's party has 22 percent of the vote.

The pro-Islamic movement, which has been the largest group in parliament since the 1995 elections, fell to third.

Pressure from the powerful pro-secular military, which made it clear that it would never accept a strong Islamic administration, may have led voters to turn from the Islamic Virtue Party and vote for the far-right movement.

MHP leader Devlet Bacheli is already looking forward to being part of the government.

SOUNDBITE (Turkish)
"As the nationalist action party, we are looking for stability in the country and we're seeking to create a stable strong and positive government. And we believe that the current make-up of the parliament will facilitate the formation of such a government."
SUPERCAPTION: Devlet Bacheli, Nationalist Movement Party Leader

And in a move which has surprised, Bacheli says he's looking to work hand in hand with the other likely coalition partners.

SOUNDBITE (Turkish)
" We look warmly to all the other political parties within parliament, they have the same thinking as us."
SUPERCAPTION: Devlet Bacheli, Nationalist Movement Party Leader

Bulent Ecevit arrived at the presidential palace to make an announcement.

SOUNDBITE: (Turkish)
"In order to be able to form a government according to the parliamentary arithmetic in the aftermath of the election I have tended my resignation to the president today and he requested we continue in a caretaker capacity until the formation of a new government"
SUPERCAPTION: Bulent Ecevit, Democratic Left Party leader

The constitution requires the Prime Minister resigns in order for a new government to be formed.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Mr Bacheli has already signalled he would be prepared to work with Mr Ecevit, he speaks very highly of Mr Ecevit, and it seems there is some degree of chemistry between the two. But I personally would be surprised to see both leaders working in the same coalition."
SUPERCAPTION: Dogu Ergil, Political analyst

While the MHP celebrates its rise to power, the party's success puts it on a collision course with Kurdish activists, who appeared to have won the mayorships of at least six cities in southeastern Turkey.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...