Roundup: Turks uneasy on security as they head for snap election

With more than a week left to a snap election in Turkey, security concerns in the aftermath of the deadliest terror incident in Turkish capital in still lingering.

"The fundamental challenges facing the people is terror and security of lives," said Mehmet Tum, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) on Friday.

"For these reasons, the rallies were canceled," he said.

The bombing on Oct. 10 which killed at least 102 people near the train station in the downtown area of Ankara was blamed on the Islamic State (IS), which is also believed to be behind another attack in July in southeast Turkey that claimed the lives of 34 people.

According to Gezici polling company's survey that was conducted after the Ankara attacks, almost 60 percent of Turks said they believe the Turkish police had not taken necessary security measures and was negligent.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) leader Selahattin Demirtas said people are not enthusiastic about holding joyful meetings when they are still mourning about their losses.

"This is normal," he said on Thursday in Istanbul, "it is impossible to conduct a cheerful election rallies under these circumstances."

"We can't do it," the HDP leader said.

Most of the people who got killed in the suicide attacks in Ankara were affiliated with the HDP and several leftist parties.

The main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu also joined in the growing chorus of those who accuse the government of failing to provide security for the rallies.

"There was a security lapse," he said referring to the Ankara attacks and asked the interior and justice ministers to resign.

"If the young people are to hold rallies freely, the government must take necessary security measures," the CHP leader warned the government.

Turkey will hold snap election on Nov. 1 after June election resulted with no clear winner. The efforts to form a coalition government failed, prompting the president to call for an early election.

THE PKK THREAT ESCALATED

Not only the mounting IS threat in Turkey, but also the clashes between the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish security forces that have been going on since July made it difficult to campaign for political parties, especially in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.

Over 170 members of security forces lost their lives in the conflicts since July.

The opposition Felicity Party (SP) leader Mustafa Kamalak announced that he was forced to sign a waiver document stating that he claims responsibility for his own safety in order to be allowed to enter into Cizre, a town in Sirnak province near Iraqi border.

"The government said 'don't visit (Cizre), we can't provide safety for you there,'" he recalled the encounter with security services, blaming the government for the failure of providing secure environment in the district.

Cizre has been one of the flashpoint districts where heavy weapons were used in the fighting between the Turkish security forces and the PKK.

The PKK is listed as terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

The interim Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has tried to relocate ballot boxes in several provinces citing security concerns.

However, the Supreme Election Board (YSK) rejected requests to move ballot boxes after an outcry from the opposition political parties that claimed the AKP is trying to rig the election.

LESS ENTHUSIASM IN ELECTION CAMPAIGN

"In the past, election days have been almost like a family outing," Charlotte McPherson, a writer for daily Today's Zaman, recalled.

Stressing that Turkey will decide on its political future in this election, she said "if you talk with Turks, you will realize people are disillusioned and concerned for the future."

The National Security Council (MGK), the top security body in Turkey, convened on Wednesday under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to talk about the security situation in country.

The statement issued after the meeting underlined that security measures that were taken to insure a peaceful and safe election day were discussed by the members.

Yet less and less people are turning up in rallies in sharp contrast to election campaign period before the inconclusive June 7 election.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has scaled down the number of major rallies it would hold after the attacks to merely three. Yet even the Istanbul rally on last Sunday did not attract many, according to local media reports.

The reason was cited as rumors circulating in the social media about security concerns.

MHP leader Devlet Bahceli reacted to the rumors on possible bomb attacks in the rally, saying that he would not give in to threats. Endit