Turkish politicians rallied their supporters Saturday on the eve of a vote many fear is unlikely to bring an end to months of instability as the country confronts a bloody wave of jihadist attacks and a renewed Kurdish conflict. Opinion polls are predicting a replay Sunday of the shock June election which stripped the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of its majority after 13 years of single-party rule, leaving the country without a government after coalition talks failed.
Turkey goes into the election more polarised than ever on ethnic and sectarian lines, and deeply on edge after the Ankara bombings blamed on Islamic State jihadists that killed 102 people, the worst in the country's modern history. The AKP of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is tipped to win between 40 and 43 percent of the vote, paving the way either for a shaky coalition that many analysts say will not last long - or yet another election. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose job could be at risk if the AKP fails to secure an outright victory, said the election was a "referendum on Turkey's future".
"Turkey needs a strong and shrewd government at such a critical time," he told a boisterous final campaign rally in Ankara. "We will definitely clear Turkey of terror, fighting, violence and hostility. We will never make concessions on democracy, freedom and rights." Another inconclusive result could however trigger further turmoil in the Muslim-majority country, with fears of a return to all-out war between Turkish security forces and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels after renewed violence shattered a 2013 truce in July. Alarm bells are also ringing about the state of democracy in the country of 78 million following a string of high-profile police raids and prosecutions against media groups and journalists considered critical of Erdogan.
The June result dashed - at least temporarily - his hopes of expanding his role into a powerful US-style executive presidency that opponents fear would mean fewer checks and balances on a man seen as increasingly autocratic. A total of 54 million Turks are registered to vote, but observers say fatigue has set in, and the run-up to the election has been much more low-key than the frenzied campaigning ahead of the June poll. Security remains the paramount concern after the attack on an Ankara peace rally that prosecutors say was carried out by an IS sleeper cell to disrupt Sunday's election.
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