Political parties

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Friday he is "very optimistic" about his New Democracy party securing a "clear victory" in the legislative elections scheduled for Sunday.

Ballot boxes have been reestablished at Istanbul Airport and customs gates to allow voters living abroad to cast their ballots in the second round of the Turkish presidential election.

The watchdog placed more than 4,600 polling stations at 46 border gates.

Tayyip Erdogan's challenger in Turkey's presidential race has sharpened his tone on migrants on Thursday, vowing to send all migrants back to their countries once elected in a May 28 runoff vote.

Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People's Party, CHP, addresses a press conference at CHP's headquarters in Ankara, 18 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/NECATI SAVAS

PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis said on Thursday he believes Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis knew about the wiretaps on his phone by the National intelligence Agency (EYP) and the efforts to infect it with the illegal spyware Predator. 

Asked at a day show on Alpha channel if he thinks Mitsotakis knew, he responded: "Definitely."

Members of Turkey's parliament meet at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, TBMM, in Ankara, 2 January 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/STR

The 600-seat parliament will have 16 political parties thanks to the political alliance system that was introduced by the executive presidential system in 2018.

Fatbardh Kadilli, from the Democratic Party, which won only seven municipalities in the May 14 Local elections, tells BIRN that both leaders of the divided party should quit and the party be completely reformed.

"WCC-DB are in the mirror position of GERB-SDS and if the first mandate is unsuccessful, the second will also fail", GERB leader Boyko Borissov told journalists in the parliament:

Turkey's main opposition party said on Wednesday it had filed complaints over suspected irregularities at thousands of ballot boxes in Sunday's landmark elections, in which President Tayyip Erdogan performed better than expected.

The Supreme Election Board (YSK) has accepted the objections of the ruling Justice and Development Party and main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to shortening the time period during which Turkish voters in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and Australia will vote for the second round.