Roundup: Turks go to polls amid fear of election fraud

Millions of Turks went to polling stations on Sunday for critical snap parliamentary elections under the watchful eyes of observers, as speculation of fraud was running high.

Representatives from civil society groups and political parties were joining international monitors at the polling stations, which number 175,006 across Turkey.

Voters in Istanbul cast their ballots from early morning hours, despite a strong wind that forced boat schedules to be halted. The atmosphere was calm in the metropolis of 14 million.

More noticeably, however, was a high presence of observers in each polling station.

Civil societies and political parties had mobilized more than 500,000 volunteers across the country to monitor the elections, which are seen vital for the country facing uncertainty and an array of challenges both at home and abroad.

"We are here, fearing the high risk of fraud, the possibility of the votes to be stolen and possible immoral behaviours," Sahin Tekgunduz, an observer from a civil society organisation called "Vote and Beyond," told Xinhua.

"We fear that some would do everything possible you could name to sustain their power," he said.

Concerns about elections fraud have long haunted Turkey as numerous uncounted voting boxes were found thrown in the rural areas in the southern part of the country after the presidential election in 2014 and the previous legislative polls on June 7 this year.

"That's why we feel obliged to monitor the voting scenes and secure the reliability of the elections," Tekgunduz added.

The monitors would keep their own records and the wet signatures of the voters for each voting box.

Later, they would compare their lists with the official results to prevent any possible play with the numbers.

In risky places in southeastern Turkey where heavy clashes are going on between security forces and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the voting boxes will be carried by armoured vehicles with helicopters flying overhead.

The allegations about a high risk of election-rigging were reinforced by a government whistleblower who tweets under the pseudonym "Fuat Avni."

The tweets spoke of regular meetings by government figures on elections fraud, and of the official Anadolu news agency playing a central role in announcing public support as high as 55 percent for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on the night of the elections.

The government's move last week to take over critical media outlets also added to the public sense of possible biased declaration of the elections results.

The AKP lost its majority in the June polls and is hoping to regain that status it had held since 2002 in Sunday's polls, which were called in late August after coalition talks failed.

Recent polls show, however, the party will narrowly lose the majority again in the 550-member parliament by garnering only some 40 percent of the votes.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while casting his vote in Istanbul, said that everyone should respect whatever the result.

Despite a lingering sense of uncertainty about the country's path ahead, voters who spoke to Xinhua in Istanbul's crowded district of Taksim expressed their hope for the country's future.

Ozden Adibelli, a mother of one, said that despite all the fraud allegations she has not lost her hope.

"I have a daughter," she said. "At least for the sake of her, I have to be hopeful for a more peaceful country."

Much has changed since the June elections, with the government at war again with the PKK and joining as well the U.S.-led air raids on Islamic State in Syria, exposing Turkey to a spate of deadly terror attacks and a deeply polarized society.

A total of 102 people were killed in one attack when two suicide bombers blew themselves up simultaneously at a peace rally in the national capital of Ankara on Oct. 10.

Yelda Yavuz, a woman in her thirties, said, "I am here to fill my duty. I hope this time they will respect the result of the election." Endit