Controversies during the November 2015 Turkish general election
Controversies during the Turkish general election of November 2015 mainly centred on the escalating violence in the south-east and the rise in domestic terrorist attacks linked to both the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
International concerns also grew over an increase in media censorship, with the government being accused of specifically targeting news outlets known to be close to the Gülen Movement such as Kanaltürk and Bugün TV.
Safety concerns due to the escalating conflict resulted in the government proposing to merge ballot boxes in affected areas and to transport them to safer locations, though the opposition criticised the move as an attempt to decrease the votes of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which polled strongly in the June 2015 general election.
[1] On 20 July 2015, a suicide bombing in the Turkish-Syrian border town of Suruç perpetrated by an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant led to the deaths of 32 activists from the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) youth wing.
Their report, which contained accounts from the Governor of Hakkâri and the Kaymakam of Yüksekova, stated that the HDP-run municipalities in the region were openly recruiting militants for the PKK and consulting them before taking decisions.
[11] On 3 October, thousands of journalists as well as members from numerous journalism associations held a demonstration at Taksim Square to protest the growing censorship of the press.
'[16] On 14 September 2015, a prosecutor ordered the impounding of all copies of the magazine Nokta, which had published an issue containing a photoshopped picture of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan taking a selfie in front of a soldier's funeral, on the grounds that it had 'insulted the President' and acted as 'propaganda for an armed terrorist organisation'.
[17] In the early hours of 1 October, Hürriyet columnist and the presenter of the political talk show Tarafsız Bölge (Neutral Area), Ahmet Hakan, was attacked by four people outside his home.
It was initially reported that the incident was a result of road rage with no relations to Hakan's journalism, though it later emerged that three of the four attackers were AKP members, who were later suspended from the party.
[23] AKP MP and Youth Wing leader Abdurrahim Boynukalın led the mob against Hürriyet, drawing heavy criticism and subsequently being sent to court for inciting hatred and vandalism.
[28] Selahattin Demirtaş announced on 9 September that 400 HDP branch offices had come under attack in the last two days and accused the AKP's leaders of trying to push the country into civil war.
[39] It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Turkish modern history, causing waves of public protests accusing the government of implicitly supporting and not doing enough to combat organisations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
[45] In September 2015, the government allegedly began pressuring the YSK to divert voters living in villages linked to the south-eastern district of Cizre to the town centre instead, citing security concerns.
[49] Although the HDP renewed their opposition to the move, the CHP admitted that they would have supported the decision had they been consulted, stating that it was practically impossible to enter the affected neighbourhoods due to the unrest.
