Voting Blogs: Censorship and conspiracy theories rule the day in post-election Turkey | openDemocracy

Turkey reached the end of an early election period that saw bombings, mob violence, the burning of party offices, political arrests, a nationwide media clampdown and military curfew in the Kurdish region of the country. After failing to establish a majority government in the 7 June elections, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a landslide victory with 49 percent of the popular vote. Ranging from announcements of a “Ballot Box Revolution” to “Fear’s Triumph,” media responses differed drastically. TV coverage of joyful celebrations by AKP supporters on the streets were matched with a sense of shock and incredulity circulating through social media among the supporters of opposition parties. They have been sharply awakened from the dream of ending the AKP’s monopoly over state power and preventing the implementation of a ‘Turkish-style’ super presidency. In the wake of these general elections, what is it about Turkey’s media culture that it undergirds the formation of a society so divided, that people seem to inhabit parallel realities?

Iraq: Votes Being Counted In Kurdish Regional Elections In Iraq | RFERL

Vote-counting is under way in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, following regional parliamentary elections on September 21. Officials have put the turnout at 73.9 percent in voting that transpired without major incident. One man was reported shot to death in the capital, Irbil, after polls closed. And Hiwa Mohammed, an election monitor in Irbil, told Reuters that difficulty with the voting procedure may have kept some residents from casting their vote