Turkish elections - any thoughts?

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 12:51

Has anybody been paying attention to the Turkish elections that take place this Sunday? Any ideas on how it might impact Cyprus?



It looks like AKP are set to win. Erdogan is hoping for quite a large majority so that he can make further democratic reforms. It seems that the Turkish military still hold more power than Erdogan would like.

happyitaliano


Joined: 02/06/2011
Posts: 60

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 13:07

AKP will win again,worst days for Cyprus

Pugwash


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 1797

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 13:07

AKP are basically unopposed, the opposition need to get their act together.

Clarissa2


Joined: 12/06/2009
Posts: 1476

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 13:21

Re : Msg 1,

"...further democratic reforms".

You mean the further islamization within the secular state, so very soon it will be as democratic as Iran.

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 13:26

msge 4







I share your concerns about Turkey moving to Islamization and away from secularism, however people are free to vote for the party they want. This makes it democratic not like certain places or bodies we could mention.



It would seem that many believe that their standard of living has improved under AKP.

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 18:05

Just reading a little more about the elections.



Erdogan needs two thirds majority and then he can rewrite the constitution. It would seem that this would mean more Islamisation. Hence, he will be able to push through amendments which he previously tried to impose, but were overruled in a court of law. This would be raising the drinking law to 24 and the imposing of head scarves in universities etc.

His party plan to introduce compulsory internet filters and it is believed that they will continue to crack down on the free press. 'Mr Erdogan has been denouncing by name, journalists who are critical of him or his party, saying they will pay a price'.



The other two main parties need to secure a reasonable number of seats in order to block his more radical reforms.

Clarissa2


Joined: 12/06/2009
Posts: 1476

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 18:12

Re : Msg6,



Yes, real advancement of democracy!

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 18:18

msge 7



I can now see real parallels with the EU. Perhaps the two were made for each other

YFred


Joined: 06/05/2009
Posts: 1471

Message Posted:
11/06/2011 23:41

Was imposing headscarf one of AKPs policies. Don't remember that one, not that I follow Turkish politics that closely. From what I remember, wearing of scarfs in Universities are banned and perhaps he was trying to allow them at worst but enforce them, I think not. Not that I am a fan of old Erdo the Merdo.



Unless he implements all the reforms needed to enter the EU, Turkey will not enter. Unfortunately the Army is not very keen on this ideas so he has to release Turkish politics from the grip of the army first. Good luck to him and I hope he succeeds.



We then may have future.



Needless to say we still have the huge task of releasing ourselves from the grip of Turkey. How true old man Inonu was when he said to Dengtash "We will save you from the Greek Cypriots but who will save you from us".



That honour will befall on the True Turkish Cypriots.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 00:52

I am quite happy with AKP and Erdogan with his "no nonsense" stand against TRNC. There is a great deal to be done in TRNC and I think Privatization will go ahead at full steam.

ismet

YFred


Joined: 06/05/2009
Posts: 1471

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 02:11

Ismet,



Sorting out the Civil Service is one thing, privatisation is another. The two do not need to go hand in hand. In fact the right wing always make a case for it using this argument that you can only solve the nationalised industry problems by privatising them. When infact all you are doing is creating monopolies. This has proved to be a disaster in the UK. We now have monopolies that even the government cannot control.



All you will get in Cyprus is lower service, higher price and dividend to the rich . This does not serve the interest of the public. But there is even worse agenda in that we are seeing the TRNC economy given to Turkey at knockdown prices if not free. Selling of KTHY was the first, next it will be Telephone and Electricity and possibly Bayrak. Transferring these establishments to the Turks does not sit in well with the idea of unified Cyprus.

andre514


Joined: 05/10/2010
Posts: 763

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 04:11

as george bush senior once said " it's the economy, stupid"

...and while turkey's economy continues to power ahead many

voters in the middle will feel that voting akp is a sensible choice



turkey's policy of "no problems with neighbours" a strategy

of concern to the west, nonetheless delivered huge dividends

in trade notably with iraq and iran, even the camps on the syrian

border have been set up with world-class efficiency



continued bitter experiences are teaching the west that much as

they frown at some of the things going on, intervention in the

muslim world without the overwhelming force to back it up like

a hundred years ago, is totally counterproductive



the eu has made it crystal clear it wants to see the influence of the

army in politics reduced to european levels which suits erdogan fine



yes, privatisations here will be costly, although north cyprus may

become more viable as a result

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 10:30

YFred, msg 11; "All you will get in Cyprus is lower service, higher price and dividend to the rich"..



Thinking about KTHY, KIBTEK, etc... Hard to imagine the service getting any lower or prices getting any higher on either of those when they were Nationally Owned... It's worth a try to privatise surely..

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 10:33

PS, poor service & high prices offered by KTHY were not a figment of my imagination.. Just check out some of the airline review sites:



http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/cyprus_turk.htm



As for KIBTEK prices / power cuts you'd only have to spend a few weeks in TRNC to experience that. Searching for KIBTEK on these forums reviews: http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/4586.asp

JohnDownes


Joined: 03/12/2010
Posts: 123

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 11:07

Ismet message 10, I agree, the TRNC government needs sorting out, and privatisiation of most of it would be a start.

ON the whole hoever I am very distrustful of Erdogan's AKP. Mark Steyn covered it very well a year ago here;

http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/4143/

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 11:19

msge 13



Very valid point



Our common sense says that it is inefficient to have two organisations competing against each other for the same work, competing on price and wages. Surely it is better just to have one company, set a fair price, agree reasonable standards for the work and utilise economies of scale. This method was tried in the Soviet union and failed miserably. Even the Cubans are now moving towards a market based economy.

There are a lot of things wrong with a market based economy (which Yfred points out), however privatisation does generally serve us better than state run organisations.

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 11:30

msge 15



Interesting post



In the Times yesterday it was said



'Erdogan was once jailed for contravening Turkeys restrictions on Islam by reading a bellicose Islamic poem'



This probably says a lot about where Erdogan sees Islam in the world, but it is also amazing to think that Turkey once jailed someone for having strong Islamic views.

YFred


Joined: 06/05/2009
Posts: 1471

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 18:45

zcacmxi



Not if it means falling in the hands of the Turks, nevermind in the hands of Turkish Capitalists. Just look at what they have done to KTHY. Doubled the rate of travel and made all the Cypriots unemployed. Was it really necessary to do that to solve the problem. Was that not a tad too drastic? If that's what thye mean by Privatisation, they can roll it into a cylindrical shape and I do believe my Greek Cypriots fascist cousins down south of the border could advise them as to how and what to do with it.

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
12/06/2011 20:44

Yred,



One argument would be that TRNC government had 30+ years to organise CTA & Kibtek to be self sufficient. By mismanaging them, making them inefficient, employing too many staff to win votes, etc, they became dependent on bailouts/handouts from Turkey annually to balance the books. This is what has lead to "falling in the hands of Turkey"..



Over the years there have been many private Turkish Cypriot owned airlines (Onur/Akdeniz/President/GreenAir/Noble/Toros) to name just a few.. If the TRNC government had supported them rather than hindering them to protect KTHY, perhaps the only options now wouldn't be TC owned...



The truth hurts us. But Turkish Cypriots must correct their ways if they want to survive and compete with our neighbours. Biggest embargo on Turkish Cypriots is imposed by TRNC government.

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
13/06/2011 17:05

Capitalism



Benefits:



*Exciting Innovation (although a lot of major breakthroughs come through government funded projects i.e biotechnology, internet, computers etc)

*Strong work ethic

*Taps in to drive to get better

*High standards

*'Can do’ mentality

*Great customer care (although it could be better. Most orgs don't treat staff as their greatest asset)

*Efficiency through the process of emergence (although unrestrained capitalism externalises its waste)

*Raises people out of poverty



Drawbacks



*Increases greed

*Large corporations become too powerful

*Gap increases between rich and poor



Public sector



Drawback



*Compliance

*Mediocrity

*Breeds cynicism

*Wasteful

*Planning is inefficient



Benefits



*Job for life and security for those who work in it



We need a new way of working, one based more on cooperation and taps in to our greatest assets. Time for humans to upload some new improved software. Time for version 3.0