VOTE
Fans and gray wolves celebrated Erdoğan's election victory in Europe
In Austria, President Erdoğan did particularly well - even better than in Germany
May 29 2023, 18:13
Vienna - In Turkey, the presidential election was initially close and exciting - but in the end, incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was the clear winner. The conclusion in Austria is different: among eligible voters of Turkish origin, Erdoğan was the clear favorite from the outset of this election between autocracy and democracy, as promised by challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
In Sunday's runoff election, Erdoğan again scored significantly better among eligible Turks here than at home: nearly 74 percent, one of his best results worldwide. That is two percentage points more than in the first round, which Erdoğan already won handily in Austria.
According to preliminary figures, slightly more than half, or a record 57.6 percent, of the 108,000 Turks eligible to vote in Austria voted. This community's support for Erdoğan was evident in Vienna's Favoriten district on election night: Hundreds of Erdoğan fans celebrated his election victory unannounced on Reumannplatz, amid a large police presence.
Jubilee celebrations
Car parades with loud horns and waving Turkey flags were held, but also the so-called wolf salute was shown again and again. This is the forbidden hand sign of the Grey Wolves - one of the largest right-wing extremist groups in Austria. According to police reports, numerous charges were filed. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) announced investigations by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in this connection.
Erdoğan fans also met in several cities in Germany. According to the police, there were traffic obstructions, the ignition of pyrotechnics and provocations between participants and passers-by, which ultimately "also ended in physical confrontations.
Jubilee celebrations
This was criticized, among others, by Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens): these were not celebrations of harmless supporters of an authoritarian politician, but rather a "rejection of our pluralistic democracy" and a "testimony to our failure among them."
In Germany, where people of Turkish origin make up the largest minority, around 67.4 percent of voters voted for Erdoğan. In France, the figure was 66.6 percent, and in Belgium it was as high as 74.9 percent. In contrast, Kılıçdaroğlu was ahead in Great Britain, Sweden or Switzerland. (fmo, 5/29/2023)
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May 29 2023, 18:13
Vienna - In Turkey, the presidential election was initially close and exciting - but in the end, incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was the clear winner. The conclusion in Austria is different: among eligible voters of Turkish origin, Erdoğan was the clear favorite from the outset of this election between autocracy and democracy, as promised by challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
In Sunday's runoff election, Erdoğan again scored significantly better among eligible Turks here than at home: nearly 74 percent, one of his best results worldwide. That is two percentage points more than in the first round, which Erdoğan already won handily in Austria.
According to preliminary figures, slightly more than half, or a record 57.6 percent, of the 108,000 Turks eligible to vote in Austria voted. This community's support for Erdoğan was evident in Vienna's Favoriten district on election night: Hundreds of Erdoğan fans celebrated his election victory unannounced on Reumannplatz, amid a large police presence.
Jubilee celebrations
Car parades with loud horns and waving Turkey flags were held, but also the so-called wolf salute was shown again and again. This is the forbidden hand sign of the Grey Wolves - one of the largest right-wing extremist groups in Austria. According to police reports, numerous charges were filed. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) announced investigations by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in this connection.
Erdoğan fans also met in several cities in Germany. According to the police, there were traffic obstructions, the ignition of pyrotechnics and provocations between participants and passers-by, which ultimately "also ended in physical confrontations.
Jubilee celebrations
This was criticized, among others, by Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens): these were not celebrations of harmless supporters of an authoritarian politician, but rather a "rejection of our pluralistic democracy" and a "testimony to our failure among them."
In Germany, where people of Turkish origin make up the largest minority, around 67.4 percent of voters voted for Erdoğan. In France, the figure was 66.6 percent, and in Belgium it was as high as 74.9 percent. In contrast, Kılıçdaroğlu was ahead in Great Britain, Sweden or Switzerland. (fmo, 5/29/2023)
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CHRONIC
Heavy criticism of victory celebration for Erdogan
Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated his election victory in Vienna on Monday night. Car parades caused massive traffic obstructions. The opposition spoke of a state of emergency and riots.
Online as of 12:29 a.m. today (update: 3:55 p.m.).
According to a spokesman for the Vienna police, the spontaneous and therefore unannounced rallies from 8:30 p.m. onwards resulted in motorcades, especially in the area around Reumannplatz, which caused massive traffic disruptions. Several hundred people gathered at Reumannplatz and loudly waved Turkish flags in celebration. According to "Wien heute", the atmosphere was slightly heated, but not aggressive. There were no Bengal fires or firecrackers to be seen.
The situation calmed down after the police intervened around 11:30 pm. According to the police spokesman, potentially endangered objects such as the Ernst Kirchweger House or embassies were protected and the several hundred revelers were prevented from moving further. Sporadically the wolf salute forbidden in Austria had been to be seen, some announcements had been the consequence. The salute is considered a distinctive sign of the right-wing extremist Turkish group "Grey Wolves".
ÖVP: "Reality catches up with whitewash".
"If thousands of people suddenly paralyze traffic and public order to celebrate 'their' president after the victory of the controversial Turkish president Erdogan, we are witnesses of a further aggravation of the situation," ÖVP Vienna regional party chairman Karl Mahrer said in his reaction on Monday. Parallel societies would increasingly separate themselves from Austrian society and live their lives. This apparently also includes Turkish politics in the middle of Vienna.
Mahrer criticized that the SPÖ-NEOS city government would again look the other way instead of acting. He said that Vienna should no longer send the wrong signals and present itself as a safe haven and as the capital of immigration. The ÖVP demanded, among other things, a package of measures against foreclosure as well as targeted measures for violence prevention. "The Vienna city government must finally face reality," Mahrer said.
FPÖ: "Favoriten turned into caliphate".
"Yesterday's riots by Erdogan supporters in Favoriten are exemplary of what the Ludwig SPÖ has made of Vienna: A city in which a fatal mass migration policy has bred counter-societies that reject us and actively want nothing to do with Austria," said the head of the Vienna FPÖ, Dominik Nepp and FPÖ district party chairman Stefan Berger. It shows that this part of Vienna has long been abandoned and left to radical migrant groups.
"The Viennese SPÖ and Mayor Ludwig have turned Favoriten into a caliphate," they continued. For Nepp, who also did not exclude Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) from his criticism, it is also completely incomprehensible what Erdogan supporters have "lost" in Austria: "If Erdogan is such a great president, then they should live in the country where he governs. Off to Turkey with these people," Nepp urged them to emigrate.
Karner and Raab: No place for imported nationalism
Interior Minister Karner thanked his officials for their "prudent actions" and announced investigations by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in connection with the wolf salute: "The democratic constitutional state and its laws are to be respected by all people living in our country. Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) said that imported political activism and violence should be condemned and punished: "Nationalism imported from abroad is the opposite of integration and has no place in our country."
Three-quarters of Austrian vote for Erdogan
Turkish citizens living in Austria also voted overwhelmingly for incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the runoff election. Nearly 74 percent of the approximately 108,000 Turks eligible to vote in Austria gave him their vote, according to preliminary figures released by the state-run Anadolu news agency. 26.12 percent voted for his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Erdogan thus once again performed significantly better in Austria than overall - read more in Erdogan emerges victorious from runoff election (news.ORF.at).
red, wien.ORF.at/agencies
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Online as of 12:29 a.m. today (update: 3:55 p.m.).
According to a spokesman for the Vienna police, the spontaneous and therefore unannounced rallies from 8:30 p.m. onwards resulted in motorcades, especially in the area around Reumannplatz, which caused massive traffic disruptions. Several hundred people gathered at Reumannplatz and loudly waved Turkish flags in celebration. According to "Wien heute", the atmosphere was slightly heated, but not aggressive. There were no Bengal fires or firecrackers to be seen.
The situation calmed down after the police intervened around 11:30 pm. According to the police spokesman, potentially endangered objects such as the Ernst Kirchweger House or embassies were protected and the several hundred revelers were prevented from moving further. Sporadically the wolf salute forbidden in Austria had been to be seen, some announcements had been the consequence. The salute is considered a distinctive sign of the right-wing extremist Turkish group "Grey Wolves".
ÖVP: "Reality catches up with whitewash".
"If thousands of people suddenly paralyze traffic and public order to celebrate 'their' president after the victory of the controversial Turkish president Erdogan, we are witnesses of a further aggravation of the situation," ÖVP Vienna regional party chairman Karl Mahrer said in his reaction on Monday. Parallel societies would increasingly separate themselves from Austrian society and live their lives. This apparently also includes Turkish politics in the middle of Vienna.
Mahrer criticized that the SPÖ-NEOS city government would again look the other way instead of acting. He said that Vienna should no longer send the wrong signals and present itself as a safe haven and as the capital of immigration. The ÖVP demanded, among other things, a package of measures against foreclosure as well as targeted measures for violence prevention. "The Vienna city government must finally face reality," Mahrer said.
FPÖ: "Favoriten turned into caliphate".
"Yesterday's riots by Erdogan supporters in Favoriten are exemplary of what the Ludwig SPÖ has made of Vienna: A city in which a fatal mass migration policy has bred counter-societies that reject us and actively want nothing to do with Austria," said the head of the Vienna FPÖ, Dominik Nepp and FPÖ district party chairman Stefan Berger. It shows that this part of Vienna has long been abandoned and left to radical migrant groups.
"The Viennese SPÖ and Mayor Ludwig have turned Favoriten into a caliphate," they continued. For Nepp, who also did not exclude Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) from his criticism, it is also completely incomprehensible what Erdogan supporters have "lost" in Austria: "If Erdogan is such a great president, then they should live in the country where he governs. Off to Turkey with these people," Nepp urged them to emigrate.
Karner and Raab: No place for imported nationalism
Interior Minister Karner thanked his officials for their "prudent actions" and announced investigations by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in connection with the wolf salute: "The democratic constitutional state and its laws are to be respected by all people living in our country. Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) said that imported political activism and violence should be condemned and punished: "Nationalism imported from abroad is the opposite of integration and has no place in our country."
Three-quarters of Austrian vote for Erdogan
Turkish citizens living in Austria also voted overwhelmingly for incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the runoff election. Nearly 74 percent of the approximately 108,000 Turks eligible to vote in Austria gave him their vote, according to preliminary figures released by the state-run Anadolu news agency. 26.12 percent voted for his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Erdogan thus once again performed significantly better in Austria than overall - read more in Erdogan emerges victorious from runoff election (news.ORF.at).
red, wien.ORF.at/agencies
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