Roundup: Turkey beefs up security ahead of critical elections

Tight security measures ahead of Turkey's national elections slated for Sunday have become much more pressing in the aftermath of a bombing that took place late on Friday, killing four people and wounding over 100 others, during an election rally in mainly Kurdish province of Diyarbakir of southeastern Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the government has taken all necessary measures to insure safety and security in the parliamentary elections, and asked everybody to stay vigil against threats.

"One wished to see that the election campaign has not been run in high tension atmosphere," he said.

The election campaigns have been characterized by a series of accusations traded among political parties' leaders, and the voters have become very much polarized with harsh language adopted by politicians.

Friday's explosions were caused by bombs placed inside an LPG canister, according to the preliminary findings reported by Turkish media.

The bombs were reportedly planted in a dustbin and detonated just before the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) leader Selahattin Demirtas was about to deliver his speech to his supporters.

Demirtas urged calm while addressing a gathering of angry residents who gathered outside the HDP office in Diyarbakir.

"We certainly do not want tension," he vowed, cautioning his supporters not to give in to the provocation that he claimed was instigated to create panic and fear among voters.

"What we need is peace," he emphasized.

Although security has been tightened in HDP rallies across the country, the pro-Kurdish party received the brunt of attacks from perpetrators who remain mostly unidentified.

On Thursday, the party's campaign vehicles were torched in Erzurum province and some 200 people were injured in clashes.

Two bomb attacks on HDP offices in southern provinces Adana and Mersin last month wounded seven people.

Demirtas continued campaigning in several districts in Istanbul on Saturday with police taking heavy security measures in advance.

Interior Minister Sebahattin Ozturk announced recently that the government deployed some 400,00 law enforcement officers to provide election security.

"We have beefed up police and gendarmerie and undertaken serious security measures for election campaign period, during the election day and after the election," he said.

He said the government would provide further security at the polling stations that were deemed in danger.

So far, more than 500 crimes have been committed in violation of the election laws according to the ministry's official data, Ozturk disclosed.

The pro-Kurdish party is critical in Turkey's election. Its votes barely exceed the 10 percent national threshold to enter into Parliament according to most polling data.

If it succeeds in passing the threshold, it may very well cause the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to lose the majority in the Parliament and thereby ousting it from power.

Simple arithmetic dictates any party needs to obtain at least 276 deputies, which represents a simple majority in 550-seat Parliament. If no party secures that number of seats, the coalition or minority government will be inevitable, triggering an early election in Turkey.

A total of 20 political parties are taking part in the elections as well as 165 independent candidates. The number of eligible voters in 78-million population is over 53 million.

For the first time, Turks living abroad are casting their votes in the polls.

According to the Supreme Election Board, out of the nearly 2.9 million eligible voters abroad, a total of some million voters had already cast their votes so far. Endit