Erdogan Sees Kurdish Party Sole Southeast Rival, Milliyet Says

By Steve Bryant - Apr 18, 2011

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he sees the Peace and Democracy Party, the country’s main Kurdish party, as his party’s sole rival in parliamentary elections in the southeast, Milliyet reported.

The ruling Justice and Development Party has selected prominent locals as its candidates in the mainly-Kurdish southeast for the June 12 elections, Erdogan told the Istanbul- based newspaper in an interview. There’s "no question of ignoring the southeast" and only two parties stand a chance of election there, he said.

He said Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek had been moved from his Gaziantep constituency to campaign in the city of Batman, closer to the village where he was born.

Source: Bloomberg.
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-18/erdogan-sees-kurdish-party-sole-southeast-rival-milliyet-says.html.