Turkey to deploy 600 thousand security personnel for elections

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 600,000 members of security forces have been tasked with securing ballot boxes for Turkey’s upcoming elections next week.

As the May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections approach, concerns and debates about the security of the polls are growing among the political parties.

The security forces will be deployed in 81 cities in order to prevent any problems during the elections, according to Turkey’s interior ministry.

Leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) say they have no fear or concern about the security of the polls, adding that the election will be peaceful and democratic.

"We have no fear. Everything is complete," Muhammed Serif Aydin, head of the AKP office in Diyarbakır (Amed) said about the May 14 elections, adding “All the political parties have already appointed their representatives at the polls."

Aydin is confident that the elections will be "a very democratic election".

Leaders of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Green Left Party have voiced concern over the security of the polls. However, they claim to have taken all measures to protect the security of the polls.

"We will follow the process from the day the election begins until the ballot boxes are processed and the votes are counted and submitted to the Supreme Election Board," Raci Bilici, a senior HDP member in Diyarbakir said.

In addition to the security forces, political party officials and election observers will also be present at 190,736 voting stations.

Reporting by Mashallah Dakak