MEDIA - ALKHARYA
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Alkharyan public poll - Update on commission elections
ART - The Alkharya Statistical Institute (AİK) has released an update of its poll regarding the upcoming commission elections.
Correction: Candidate Jon Mitchell Am Lind's name should now correctly show his surname. We apologize for our mistake.
On commission elections, I support this Premier Commissioner candidate:.
Leeson: 23,3% (+3,4%)
Cocx: 36,7% (-1,9%)
Le Berre: 35,9% (+1,1%)
Undecided / no opinion: 4,1% (-2,6%)On commission elections, I support this Internal Affairs Commissioner candidate:.
Birdane: 84,5% (-1.2%)
Winston: 9,9% (+0.5%)
Undecided / no opinion: 5,6% (+0.7%)On commission elections, I support this Foreign Affairs Commissioner candidate:.
Reagan: 21,8% (-8,7%)
Mitchell: 54,3% (+8,4%)
Neutral / no opinion: 23,6% (+0,3%) -
DÖRTKÖŞE - Here's how Alkharya voted in its first commission elections
- Le Berre, Birdane and Mitchell are the winners of commission elections
- Birdane surprisingly weaker than expected in Northern Alkharya
- This election marks the first time the voting turnout is below 60%
The European Commission election results have been finalized in Alkharya after a week of the voting period, which was extended as this was the first time the country had participated in a European election. The turnout was lower than expected (56%) with over 12 million people voting in the elections, which is the first time an election in Alkharya has a below 60% turnout.
Francois Le Berre upsets the previous predictions made by AİK and wins the Premier race over Walter Cocx, the favoured candidate. This was the most competitive race in the Commission elections in Alkharya and all around Europe, as predicted by the Union of Dissidents. Cocx dominates non-coastal areas while Le Berre snatches most of the mainland coast and a significant part of Northern Alkharya. Many predict that the upset happened because of Alkharyans fear of nuclear fallout in case of a war in the UNSR caused by Cocx's aggressive policy there. Peter Leeson of United Duchies barely wins a couple of counties here and there but is unable to get many votes because of the conflicts in the council between Alkharya and the United Duchies.
Francois LE BERRE - 6,014,328 - 48.4%
Walter COCX - 5,445,070 - 44%
Peter LEESON - 940,512 - 7,6%
As predicted, Münevver Birdane benefitted from home advantage and dominated all across the board in the Internal Affairs race, except in the North, where a lot of counties preferred Winston over her. This is possibly caused by the fact that Birdane is a southern politician, which shows the North-South separation in the country once more. Regardless, this did not affect the results in general.
Münevver BIRDANE - 10,543,636 - 85,2%
Edmund Jasper WINSTON - 1,831,523 - 14.8%
In the Foreign Affairs race, Jon Mitchell dominates Alkharya even more than the AİK predicted. It appears that people just don't trust Ronald Reagan, possibly because of his lack of knowledge regarding foreign affairs policy, compared to Mitchell.
Jon MITCHELL Am Lind - 9,454,622 - 76,4%
Ronald REAGAN - 2,920,537 - 23,6%This was Erin Karagül, writing for Dörtköşe.
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Breaking News: Aylin Gökçen has been withdrawn from the European Council by the government
Reasons for the departure is currently unknown.
ONE - A strange and shocking order has been issued by the Alkharyan government this afternoon, which withdrew the current councillor, Aylin Gökçen off Europolis. The order was issued this afternoon with the entire cabinet signing the order. The document declared that there will be no councillor for Alkharya until the special election at a future date and it demands Gökçen to come back to Alkharya within 72 hours.
Aylin Gökçen was elected as a councillor in September 2020 elections, narrowly beating the centre-right populist candidate Baykur Viron, she started as a councillor on October 14th that year. During her unexpectedly short career, Aylin Gökçen immediately stuck out like a sore thumb, for lack of a better term with her brazen and blunt attitude. She made a repeal bill on the Elected and Accountable Council Act (EACA), which narrowly failed. She submitted Protection of Body Integrity for Children and Intersex People Act, later withdrawn due to Austrian shenanigans, which caused backlash over the banning of male circumcision, which is a sensitive topic for religious people.
More recently, she ran for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker elections but failed to get a position.
The reason for the withdrawal is currently unknown. Neither Elçi nor Gökçen nor any other government source have made any statements regarding the removal. We will give you the latest updates regarding this situation.
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SÖZ - Violent protests against the departure of councillor continue all across Alkharya
The protests came in response to Councillor Aylin Gökçen's calls on Twitter to save Alkharyan democracy.
- Councillor Aylin Gökçen was recalled from Europolis in an unexpected move by the government
- Gökçen took it to Twitter, claiming the withdrawal was illegitimate and an attack on Alkharyan democracy and called for protests
- Independent sources claim that almost ten million people all around the nation have participated in the protests
Something quite strange happened on February 16th, when the Alkharyan Government publicly released an order to withdraw the 1st Councillor of Alkharya, Aylin Gökçen. They gave her 72 hours to come back to Alkharya. There was no reason given in the document, but all of the cabinet signed it. Nobody was sure why it existed, or what happened. What could've Gökçen done? She certainly wasn't the most loved in the Council, but that can't be a reason for getting withdrawn.
Whatever the reason may be, Gökçen was livid. She immediately took to Twitter, saying that she would not come to Alkharya until there was a valid reason for her to come. She claimed that this was a clear attack on Alkharyan democracy. She called in for protests all around Alkharya.
Her calls have been widely successful, especially in the Northern Alkharya. In Alfur alone, independent sources claim that around three million people have participated in the protests, which were observed in all twelve regions of Alkharya. "Democracy now!" protesters called, condemning the departure. The protests were not peaceful, as most Alkharyans do not believe in peaceful protests. Buildings burned, shops destroyed and looted... This was when the police had to step in, and they did: Almost one hundred and fifty thousand people were arrested in the first two days, three-quarters of which were released shortly after.
"Of course the Southern president wants to oppress the North!" One woman told ONE interviewer. "They're always like this. From generation to generation, cannot wait to annex us and our liberty! Demons!" She then proceeded to throw a gas bomb at police all by her bare hands.
"We cannot trust the government anymore!" Another protester told the same interviewer. "If they're going to just decide our decisions are invalid like that... They can't do that! I'll beat them!"
Police brutality has also been visible in the protests. Many photos from protesters getting affected by gas bombs and rubber bullets have been made public, even in the regions where both of those items are illegal. It is unknown how many people have gotten injured at this time.
Protests against the government continue, and it seems like they will continue until President Elçi withdraws the departure. Some people have reported sights of the military in the streets, possibly to deploy against the protests. What will happen after these protests remain unclear.
This was Gür Yaman, writing for Söz.
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ART Radyo - Ministry of Foreign Affairs Asuman Metin announces a 3-week travel ban to Union of Syndicates
Tensions have risen in the Union of Syndicates once again after what appears to be a Cocx victory in the Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Asuman Metin have announced that a three-week travel ban would be enacted against the Union of Syndicates effective immediately. This means that citizens of Alkharya will not be able to visit the Union of Syndicates for any purpose, aside from emergencies. Metin has also announced that the negotiations and cooperation with the Syndical government continue in order to take Alkharyan citizens currently in the Union to return home safely.
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ADUS - CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE
Acil Durum Uyarı Sistemi (ADUS) (en. Emergency Warning System) is the national warning system of Alkharya, operational since 1984.
[Distorted siren sound plays, added to catch attention. A robotic male voice starts speaking:]
ATTENTION, PLEASE. ALL NORMAL PROGRAMMING HAS BEEN SUSPENDED.
THE ALKHARYAN GOVERNMENT HAS ISSUED A COMPLETE, 24 HOUR CURFEW, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. ALL GOVERNMENT WORKERS ARE SET TO HELP THE ALKHARYAN CITIZENS WITH SUPPLIES.
DUE TO THE GENERAL CIVIL UNREST AND RECENT PROTESTS IN ALKHARYA TURNING INCREASINGLY VIOLENT AND THREATS OF TERRORISM FROM THE UNION OF SYNDICATES, A COMPLETE CURFEW HAS BEEN PLACED UNTIL FURTHER TERMINATION FOLLOWING A CIVIL EMERGENCY STATEMENT.
THE ALKHARYAN POLICE AND MILITARY FORCES HAVE THE FULL RIGHT TO ARREST AND DETAIN ANY CITIZEN WHO BREAKS THE CURFEW.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST ONE BATTERY RADIO TO NOT MISS ANY INFORMATION EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR TELEVISION.
ALL NORMAL PROGRAMMING HAS BEEN SUSPENDED. ALL TELEVISION CHANNELS ARE SET TO SEND YOU THE LATEST UPDATES REGARDING THE SITUATION. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
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ADUS - CIVIL EMERGENCY UPDATE
[Distorted siren sound]
ATTENTION, PLEASE.
THIS IS AN UPDATE FOLLOWING THE CURFEW THAT WAS IMPOSED FIVE HOURS AGO.
CITIZENS THAT LIVE IN FOLLOWING PROVINCES:
IN ETİKEL, SİRKECİ PROVİNCE
IN YEDİTEPE: MASLAK PROVINCE
IN GEYİKLİ: DOLUNAY AND KARAORMAN PROVINCESIN ORDER TO ENSURE SAFETY FROM THE CIVIL UNREST, THE ALKHARYAN MILITARY HAS BEEN DEPLOYED TO THESE AREAS. IMMEDIATE EVACUATION AND/OR CURFEW ORDERS MAY BE IN EFFECT IN SOME PARTS OF THESE PROVINCES. CO-OPERATE WITH MILITARY PERSONNEL AT ALL TIMES.
THE CURFEW THAT WAS MENTIONED EARLIER HAS BEEN LIFTED IN ALL PROVINCES SOUTH OF PROVINCES MENTIONED BY NAME.
OUTSIDE TRAVEL HAS BEEN BANNED FOR THREE DAYS UNLESS APPROVED BY THE GOVERNMENT. ALKHARYANS THAT WANT TO RETURN TO THE COUNTRY ARE EXEMPT.
[The message is repeated again.]
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ONE - A MESSAGE FROM THE NORTH
[After hours of black screen, the message "ÖNEMLİ DUYURU" (IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT) flashes red on the screen of ONE, with a couple of beeps following.]
Greetings to all watching as of current. The so-called united Alkharya comes to an end now, and hopefully forever.
The South has used every single tool in the shed to oppress the North. Its opinions, its views, cultures, many other things. It repeatedly stepped on our boundaries, by annexing us without our consent in the 1800s, by banning travel to Northern cities in the 1950s, by secretly poisoning Northern politicians since the forced unification, by killing the Northern journalists, by suppressing our political power, even to this day. The December 2020 referendum will go down as the worst referendum in the history of these lands. The re-calling of dear Councillor Aylin Gökçen was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The South sends its military as a last-ditch effort. It doesn't matter. We are winning on every front. We will separate. We will have our own voice. We will win.
We have these demands from the rest of Alkharya: Recognize The Alkharyan Realm as a sovereign independent state, and leave us out of the European Union.
We have chosen our own destiny.
Long Live the North.
[The broadcast ends with footage of the flag of the new Alkharyan Realm.]
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Dörtköşe - "We cannot lose more lives," says President Elçi
The motivation message comes after the Northern separation
The Alkharyan unity, which lasted for more than two centuries, seems to be over for now as the North declares itself a realm free from the rest of Alkharya. The abrupt chaos comes from the departure of Aylin Gökçen as a councillor of Alkharya. Aylin Gökçen, which has been a politician for the region of Alfur for years had won the councillor elections of September 2020. She was called back by the Alkharyan Government. While no actual reason was given on the callback document, many believe that it's because of disagreements between Gökçen and Elçi.
Well, it appears that these disagreements came at a considerable price. The vast protests all around Northern Alkharya have escalated into insurgence. The final nail in the coffin was 2/5 of the military escaping to fight alongside the North, which made every citizen on the country suffers, as supplies (which were promised by the government itself) got delayed and emergency services were unreachable in most areas. Evacuations were made to make sure the hysteria didn't spread, as it was too late, it seems like. The Northern militia hijacked channel ONE and decided to release a final message, saying they have chosen their own destiny. They also hinted at a referendum in early March, though its legitimacy is heavily questioned.
Surprisingly enough, Kaanpaşa stayed mostly silent to Northern separation, for reasons unknown... Until now. President Tülay Elçi gave her first speech after all these incidents yesterday, which might show the reason why they have stayed silent all this time.
"Dear Alkharyans, the experience that we're going through is traumatic, tragedic and is certainly one of the lowest points in Alkharya in the 21st century. I have made the decision to kick Aylin Gökçen out of the Council for mere incompetence and provocation. This decision of mine has resulted in protests intensifying into insurgence and an illegitimate rogue state on our mainland. Just to be clear, we will not be recognizing the so-called realm. We will not give these terrorists what they want. However, we cannot immediately go into attack mode. We have to prepare. We cannot lose more lives. I promise you that we will return to normal better than ever. This was a small dent in Alkharya's success. We got this."
This was Erin Karagül, writing for Dörtköşe.
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Yeni Gazete - Metin Fazlı and Seniha Aybeniz will run to replace Aylin Gökçen
An emergency councillor race begins as Alkharya remains broken
Metin Fazlı (left) and Seniha Aybeniz (right) pictured
- Three candidates were chosen from Kurultay in order to replace the former councillor, Aylin Gökçen
- Aylin Gökçen was murdered on the 24th of February and her body was found near the Gallorum border in Europolis
- Main issue of the candidates is the current fragmented state of Alkharya
February of 2021 will go down as one of the most traumatic months for Alkharyans that lived during the timeline. The recalling of the former councillor Aylin Gökçen, protests backed by millions, followed Northern insurgence and separation and the assassination of Aylin Gökçen. The country is barely holding it together, it seems like. Now, the country tries to replace its assassinated former councillor.
Two candidates were chosen and an election will happen in the 3rd of March, 2021 and conclude on the 4th. Here are the three candidates:
Metin Fazlı
A politician from Kaanpaşa, Fazlı has already promised an intervention bill against the North from day one. He does not mind using divisive language, outright calling independence supporters "terrorists". He is currently considered to be the one who will put an end to this limbo the fastest.
Seniha Aybeniz
A politician from Etikel, she takes a more pacifist approach and considers to participate or initiate peace talks with the North, with the help of current Internal Affairs Commissioner, Münevver Birdane.
Counties affected by the northern insurgence will be ineligible to vote, as the insurgence prevents the so-called Northern country from doing anything EU-related.
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ART - Councillor Election Results - 4th of March, 2021
Kaanpaşa
Fazlı - 60,5% - Aybeniz - 39,5%
Barbaros
Fazlı - 46% - Aybeniz - 54%
Etikel
Fazlı - 39,9% - Aybeniz 60,1%
İskender
Fazlı - 61,4% - Aybeniz - 39,6%
Geyikli
Fazlı - 51,2% - Aybeniz - 49,8%
Ersagun
Fazlı - 50,1% - Aybeniz - 49,9%
OVERALL
Fazlı - 50,3% - Aybeniz - 49,7%(OOC: This is quite rushed LMAO apologies I just am all over the place right now.)
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Showtime - Northern independence results announced
And they are as shady as you think
The news has been announced by the Northern state-dictated media. Apparently, with a 96% turnout, 90% of the state voted for independence. But the election is more sketchy than a 6-year-old trying to draw with an Etch-a-Sketch, as the so-called Realm tried their best to ensure that the referendum was in their favour.
While ONE Radio said they would accept outsiders to check their elections, said outsiders apparently had problems with getting a visa. It's common for these observes to get completely ghosted by the Realm. Vaschel Aidallbery, a political science graduate from the United Duchies, said that the so-called Realm was "more unresponsive than a 20-year-old computer". He said that he completely gave up after the Realm wanted "incredibly personal information", including his social security number to grant him a political visa. Similar complaints came from Jody Barnett, which tried to observe the election from Leagio. They claimed that the government wanted their address to "send out a form for the visa", as the illegitimate state doesn't have an embassy anywhere.
Footage and witness report from the towns and villages near the border flow relentlessly and it appears that the Northern military junta is having a hard time controlling the press. Some voters are forced at gunpoint to vote for independence. It is reported that 1/3 of the employees on ONE have disappeared, arrested or publicly beaten somewhere. Freedom of speech is absolutely unheard of in the so-called Glorious Kingdom. The area is in such a chaotic state that nobody is exactly sure who the leader is. It is predicted that the nation is run by a council of thirty or so soldiers, none of which are public figures. The city of Alderik, which is now considered "the capital of the Realm", is on a condition possibly worse than the city of Kiel according to whistleblowers, which is remarkable given that the Realm had only existed since mid-February.
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Kum Saati - Can the ICS Church win the lawsuit?
The church accused Alkharya of violating the religious freedom of its citizens.
On December 26th, 2020, the ICS Church of the United Duchies put up a petition against the Alkharyan government. The petition concerns the ban on missionary activities imposed on October 18th, 2020. The bill in question proposed to ban missionary actions again, thirteen years after the ban was lifted. The ban came after various incidents regarding malicious attacks from missionaries on Alkharyan children, as well as concerning the rise of suicide rates among the schools that were visited by missionaries. The lawsuit was re-petitioned again on February 22nd, 2021, and is now in action. They demand Alkharya repeal its laws and comply with the constitution of the European Union. The question is: Can they win the lawsuit?
First, we have to look at what part of this law the church deems unconstitutional, in this case, it's the Section 17, the Freedom of Conscience:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change their religion or belief; and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance provided they do not violate the rights of others as mandated by this Declaration."
The church thinks that the ban is unconstitutional as the missionary ban violates the right to teach religion. We have to look at the Alkharyan law for context. On the 2020 bill, missionary activities are defined as:
"Teaching of religion or any similar sort of beliefs as a representative of a religious organization, be it a church, an NGO or any other institution, to convert a person to the religion said institution adheres to."
This definition is important. Due to its definition, the teaching of religion is, on paper at least, not banned. The ban only affects, as mentioned, education whose end goal is to convert a person from one religion to another, which appears to be the main goal of most missionaires, and education which is sponsored by an institution, albeit a church, an NGO or what else. The ban was applied to ensure that the religious education is unbiased, which is nearly impossible when a religious institution is behind it. From October 2020 to January 2021, 975 independent missionaires got approval from the government for religious education in various spaces, which means that these activities still continue, they're just regulated by the government.
While it is hard to tell which side will win this case, this will not be the first time the rest of the European Union will go against Alkharya, regarding religion, which has been one of the most dividing cultural differences since the dawn of time.
This was Altuner Fadıl, writing for Kum Saati.
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Northern Militia surrenders, thousands arrested
The months-long conflict is finally over.
Image: A couple of pedestrians walking by a war-torn street in Leylekhan on April 25, 2021.
Dörtköşe
Erin Karagül
2021, 5 JuneAfter a long and exhausting fight between the Alkharyan military and the so-called Northern Militia, the militia has surrendered. The notice came after the last offense in Alderik City when the remaining militiamen were trapped in the city's northern suburbs. The military's forced offenses, as the dwindling support for the militia in occupied areas, added salt to the already worsening injury for the insurgents. The insurgence was notorious for its repeated human rights violations, extensively recorded by independent media. All visual and audio media was banned, Strict curfews were enforced, and mass murders by the rogue state were commonplace. It is yet to be known how many people died at the hands of these terrorists, however.
After the late former councilor, Aylin Gökçen was withdrawn from the position on charges yet to be known, she went on a rampage from Europolis, effectively starting the protests back in February. Millions attended in the North, most notably in the Alfur region. Things got worse very quickly when protests got increasingly violent, and, at the time, a significant amount of the Alkharyan military escaping with their guns. This was when the civil conflict officially began when the Northern militia declared the state of "The Alkharyan Realm". Things went quite south (pun unintended) very quickly, though. For one, nobody was sure who lead this movement throughout the civil conflict. The leaders of the militia had concealed their identity effectively. To this day, who actually lead the council of militiamen is unknown. The conflict's worst moments came after the fraudulent independence referendum initiated by the rogue state, followed by the mysterious death of the former councilor Aylin Gökçen. The Alkharyan military fully initiated an offense on Atlıkarınca and Geyikli right after, which resulted in thousands of deaths, civilian and military, with exact numbers yet to be disclosed.
Throughout March and April, a significant number of the militia forces switched sides, with numbers undisclosed again, though some argue it's around 100,000. It is said that most were excused during the conflict, though whether they'll be judged for their crimes is still left unanswered. The conflict came to an end in late May, thanks to inner conflict within the militia and its occupied areas, most of Alderik and the northern part of Alfur at the time. According to bystanders, just before the final liberation from the Alkharyan military, rebel citizens inside the occupied territory fired at the remaining militia. Thanks to the confusion, the military had an easy job cleaning out the remaining of the so-called Realm.
After the conflict, it is reported that thousands have been arrested, accused of supporting or aiding militiamen. It is possible that they may be charged with terrorism, treason, and other high crimes. The situation remains bleak as of current, however.
While the armed conflict has come to an end technically, the societal conflict may go on for decades to come. This conflict was a not-so-gentle reminder that our union is fragile. The reason why this conflict ended so short was because of how incompetent the militia was. Their iron fist governance style was so unpopular it came crashing down at the same speed as it rose. The politicians who held divisive beliefs and expressed them shall be held accountable, including President Tülay Elçi. We cannot have a place for trash talking and corruption anymore. Else, the next conflict may be just around the corner.
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Alkharya to participate in commission elections with Kurultay
4x
2021, 7 June, 17:38 AKTPresident Tülay Elçi announced that Alkharya will not participate in the next commission elections in the European Union with an election. She stressed that the country is still in a state of distress after the civil conflict, and is incapable of running a nationwide election currently. Elçi says that the country will vote in the upcoming commission elections by Kurultay. In the previous commission election, a nationwide election was held, with Francois Le Berre, Münevver Birdane and John Mitchell am Lind winning. Münevver Birdane, who was elected as the Internal Affairs Commissioner announced that she would not seek a second consecutive term. She sighed that the job had damaged her mental health, especially due to the conflict coming just on the time for her term. She claimed that it was exhausting. and "damaging to her potential as a Commissioner". Birdane also claimed that she would not seek another commission term in the near future.
