About 350,000 people with dual citizenship have the right to vote in Turkey. There are no exact statistics on how many of them will exercise their vote on June 9 for the Bulgarian National Assembly, but expectations are again for high turnout.
This was specified by the BNR.
In our south-eastern neighbor, 166 polling stations have been opened, which is the largest number abroad. Four of the bureaus will vote for the European Parliament. According to expatriate organizations, those parties that address the problems of the people in Turkey will have weight.
In Turkey, as in our country, an election campaign is taking place. The goal is to attract more votes for a given political force and for it to have greater weight in the Bulgarian parliament. Various forms of campaigning are used, including posters and handing out leaflets. However, the Bulgarian parties still do not know how to work with the people, claims Rafet Ulutürk, an emigrant from the Rhodope Mountains and chairman of the “Bultürk” company.
Representatives of various parties come to Turkey to campaign. They meet with the people, and they, in turn, expect politicians to solve their problems. The Confederation of Expatriate Societies from the Balkan countries has drawn up a list of 17 issues for which dual citizens expect concrete action, says Sabri Mutlu, the Confederation's chairman.
In his words, none of the Bulgarian politicians who have arrived in Turkey so far has paid attention to these problems. However, he believes that it is the role of these politicians to convince people to vote.
The Confederation of Expatriate Societies is one of the organizations in Turkey that works actively during elections. Sabri Mutlu claims that it does not indicate which party our emigrants should vote for and is far from the meaning of the term election campaign. But it assists them in the election process - from filling out documents to providing transportation to Bulgaria or an election office in Turkey.
According to Mutlu, no surprises are expected in the preparation for the vote on June 9, as well as in its conduct itself. He says that they are already used to elections, but admits that people are tired.
Our expatriates in Turkey do not rely much on election campaigning. According to representatives of their companies, weight will be given to parties that do not just promise, but already have concrete solutions to their problems. No matter how the campaign ends, a high voter turnout is expected in our south-eastern neighbor for the vote for the National Assembly.
The chairman of the company “Bultürk“ Rafet Ulutürk predicts one in the big cities like Bursa, Izmir and Istanbul, where there is a concentration of our emigrants. He does not think that this activity will be a direct result of political agitation on the ground. Therefore, it is a curious question what makes people with dual citizenship in Turkey vote regularly.
Dr Vildane Özkan from Gümüşhane University has researched the reasons why expats exercise their right to vote. According to her, there are at least four reasons why they do this, and one of them is that they feel overlooked by most political parties.
If we are to go by the behavioral model of voting in Turkey developed by Dr. Vildane Özkan, at least 100,000 voters can be expected in the upcoming elections.
According to Sabri Mutlu, there is interest in voting on June 9, but mainly among elderly voters.