Turkey's election has no losers - by M K Bhadrakumar
Addressing an election rally on Tuesday in the central Anatolian town of Isparta, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proclaimed that he will quit politics if the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is not returned to power in the parliamentary elections on Sunday.
All pre-poll surveys have come up with the assessment that the AKP is set to receive a handsome mandate from the Turkish electorate. Some surveys predict that the ruling Islamist party may secure as many as 40% of the votes as compared with its 2002 tally of 34.4%.
As a grassroots politician, Erdogan must have begun to feel in his bones already, after the grueling weeks of campaigning in dusty provincial towns like Isparta, sipping endless cups of black tea and chatting with carpet traders and peasants, that he is at the threshold of a fantastic political victory against formidable odds.
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