As it happened: Nov 1 general elections

ISTANBUL

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10:10 p.m. - HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş also spoke at the same press conference.

Demirtaş said the high rate of participation in this election was pleasing, adding “I would like to thank all those who voted for the HDP.” 

The HDP was under unfair, unfree and unequal conditions for the election campaign, he also said, adding that the HDP did not campaign after the suicide bomb attack that hit Ankara on Oct. 10. Demirtaş also stressed the pressure that the HDP has been under during the five-month period up to Nov. 1.

“We waged no campaign. We only tried to save our people from massacres,” he said.


10:00 p.m. - Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Figen Yüksekdağ said her party had witnessed a surprising and positive outcome from the June 7 election but that subsequent political developments led to a snap election.

"The five-month period from June 7 to Nov. 1 was an abnormal period. We shouldn't evaluate this result without considering these conditions," Yüksekdağ said.

Yüksekdağ said those in power had ratcheted up tension since June 7 and that it was the HDP which faced the harshest conditions in the subsequent period.


9:05 p.m. - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said “this victory is not ours; it’s the nation’s victory,” speaking to a crowd in the Central Anatolian province of Konya on Nov. 1 after the initial election results were revealed. 

“May God bless you for embracing us in our worst times,” he said. “Today is a victory day but also a day of modesty.” Davutoğlu cut his address short, expressing that he will visit the tomb of Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi in Konya.

In Konya’s Mevlana Square, Davutoğlu addressed the crowd for a second time at around 9:44 p.m., while saying he would provide an additional political messages in Ankara later in the night. 

The prime minister gave his supporters three messages in his address. “I understand your joy and excitement but the [ruling Justice and Development Party] AKP voters are always dignified,” said Davutoğlu, while warning his supporters to stay calm and avoid provocations in his first message.

“We will not [be overcome by the] euphoria of victory; we will continue to work,” he said in his second remark. “There is no side who lost today; there is only a winner today, and that is our nation.”

He said his third message was for the locals of Konya. “We will only plant the seeds of love. You have always embraced us, you have never been pessimistic. I am grateful for you, and I thank you, dear locals of Konya.”

8:45 p.m. - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has posted his first tweet to celebrate the Nov. 1 general election, as his AKP is on 49 percent with over 90 percent of the votes counted.

“Elhamdülillah,” Davutoğlu tweeted, an Arabic phrase meaning "Praise be to God."


8:30 p.m. - Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon at Kurdish militants who were protesting after the Nov. 1 election appeared to deliver a clear victory to the Justice and Development Party (AKP), an AFP photographer said.
 
The clashes erupted outside the headquarters of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır. 

   
8:15 p.m. - A senior official from Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has told Reuters that there was no likelihood of a coalition government after the Nov. 1 general election, with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) apparently on its way back to single-party rule.

7:55 p.m. - More than %85 percent of the votes have been counted. The HDP stands on the edge of the 10 percent threshold :

AKP - 50.66%

CHP - 24.75%

MHP - 11.98%

7:00 p.m. - With almost half the votes counted, the AKP was on 53.2 percent of the vote. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was on 20.7 percent, while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were both on 11.0 percent, just above the 10 percent threshold needed to enter parliament, TRT reported. 

6:20 p.m. - The Istanbul Governor’s Office has released a written statement announcing that criminal action has been taken against six vehicles without plates in six districts. 

“Five cars belonged to citizens who arrived to cast votes, while another belonged to a teacher appointed to work as an election observer,” the statement said.


5:35 p.m. - Justice and Development Party (AKP) district head Halit Toktaş has been detained at a polling station in Turkey’s eastern Van province after quarreling with election observers from the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). 

While HDP supporters claimed Toktaş drew his gun, AKP provincial head Zahir Soğanda denied the allegations, claiming the HDP supporters, who were at the polling station to vote, attacked Toktaş. 

According to his statement, although Toktaş initially filed a complaint, the issue was later resolved between the parties.

5:00 p.m. - Polls closed in Turkey' Nov. 1 general elections.

4:35 p.m. - Three people have been detained in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri for taking pictures of their votes, a practice prohibited by election law. 

Meanwhile, Kayseri police received over 2,000 complaints about banners and posters of political parties that remained intact around the city, despite an election law that prohibits all advertisement from 6 p.m. onwards starting Oct. 31.


4:15 p.m. - 67-year-old İsmet Şahbaz, who broke his feet and back in a car accident on Sept. 10, arrived at the polling station on a stretcher in the southern province of Adana.


4:10 p.m. - Disputes arose in a number of polling stations in Ankara and Istanbul after observers were pressured to sign empty election reports hours before the polls closed. 

Election officials wrote a report after refusing to sign empty reports as early as 9:45 a.m. at the Güzeltepe secondary school in Istanbul’s conservative Eyüp district. 

According to electoral law, election reports can only be signed after polls close and all votes are counted


4:00 p.m. - Polls have closed in 32 provinces in Turkey's east. The remaining polls will close at 5 p.m.

3:30 p.m. - Identity check and body search practices by the police in Turkey’s southeastern Şırnak province have been lifted following appeals by Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Şırnak deputy Leyla Birlik and the mayor from the same party, Serhat Kadırhan.

Police officers had been acting upon a court order to search “suspected individuals” at Hürriyet primary and secondary school, located in the city center. 

Kadırhan cited the practices in a report and made an appeal to the election board, which later ended the practice.


3:00 p.m. - An election observer from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is focused on the Kurdish issue, has been detained in the southeastern province of Gaziantep for “interrupting election security.”

The head of the polling officials cited the observer, identified as Ahmet D., in a report on charges of opposing the electoral law.

The observer was taken to a police station where he will testify.
2:40 p.m. - Elif Biçer, who is getting married on the night of Nov. 1 in the resort town of Fethiye, went to the ballot box in the Ortaca neighborhood wearing her wedding dress. “I got ready for my wedding in Fethiye, but I cast my vote because even one vote counts,” said Biçer. 

2:30 p.m. - The electricity was cut off for about 1.5 hours in Istanbul’s Güngören district due to the failure of a power distribution unit near a polling station.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Eren Erdem, who was present during the repair works, said they would protect the ballot box, while questioning the constant failure of power distribution units during voting.

2:10 p.m. - Police have intervened with tear gas in a quarrel between supporters of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) at a polling station in Kocaeli province, located to the east of Istanbul.

Reports indicated the dispute started when the relatives of an 80-year-old woman met with resistance from an election observer of the AKP for helping the elderly woman cast her vote. 


2: 00 p.m. - The head of election observers at a ballot box in the southeastern province of Batman has been removed after complaints that he tried to influence voters. 

Kerim Tekin was the head observer at ballot box number 121 in Batman’s Yavuz Selim Primary School. 

Batman Governor Azmi Çelik said Tekin was removed from his post after complaints. “Four other people [in the province] have also been detained for violating election rules,” Çelik added.

1:20 p.m. - Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli cast his vote in Ankara.

“I think that the election will be a turning point in terms of the nation’s future,” Bahçeli said.



1:10 p.m. - Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu cast his vote in Ankara.



12:25 p.m. - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan cast his vote in Istanbul.

“May this election be beneficial for our nation. About 54 million voters are heading to the ballot boxes today. This election was necessitated as a result of the instable outcome of the June 7 elections. It has become apparent how important stability is to our nation. All of us should respect the attitude of the national will. I wish this election to be beneficial to our country,” Erdoğan said.


11:25 a.m. - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu cast his vote in his hometown, the Konya province.

“First of all, I want to call on all citizens to head to the polls and wish to show our mutual good will to all parties as if we were celebrating a democracy festival. Once again, we are now heading to the polls in tranquility. For the first time, we are heading to the polling stations in such a short-term. The participation seems good for now and all measures have been taken. Polling is continuing in all neighborhoods and districts with ease. It is the duty of all of us to claim our democracy,” Davutoğlu said.


9:50 a.m. - Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş cast his vote in the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul.

“I hope that the political results of this election will be the most beneficial for all of us. All of the country desires comfort and peace most. It was a tough and troubled campaign period. Unfortunately we also have lost lives,” said Demirtaş urging all citizens to head to the polling stations.


Oct. 30 - Hürriyet Daily News will cover the Nov. 1 elections with its distinctive reporting, instant updates on its modernly designed, real-time map and live results from 81 provinces as the country heads to one of the most significant elections throughout its history amid rising tensions over terrorism, political uncertainty and recent crackdowns on the media.

After the Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its single-party rule and the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) crossed the 10 percent election threshold in the June 7 general elections, Turkey is heading toward snap elections, with the participation of 54.1 million voters to elect the new members of parliament. 

Follow Hürriyet Daily News using the hashtag #TurkeyElections on Twitter to get more updates throughout the day of the election as well as our Facebook page and website.