ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's politicians made a final pitch for votes on the eve of a parliamentary election billed by both the ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party and its nationalist rivals as a key test for their secular democracy.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, 53, hopes his centre-right AK Party's record of strong economic growth, rising living standards and falling inflation will persuade voters to grant him a fresh five-year mandate in Sunday's election.

"Let's keep going forward in unity and solidarity," said AK Party campaign adverts in Saturday's newspapers, contrasting five years of economic reforms and political stability with the mismanagement of previous weak coalition governments.

Erdogan's mainly nationalist and secular-minded rivals have focused more on security, especially a surge in separatist Kurdish violence in the troubled southeast which is home to most Kurds, who make up about a fifth of Turkey's 74 million people.

Opposition parties have also criticized the AK Party's privatization program, notably the sale of banks to foreign investors, and its pro-Western foreign policy, including reforms aimed at preparing Turkey for European Union membership.

Tens of thousands of supporters of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) rallied in Istanbul on Saturday against what they branded the government's sellout of Turkish interests.

"We want a government that will defend Turkey's interests, not those of the EU and the United States. The AK Party has not defended our interests, but the MHP would," said Aydin Calgici, 44, a construction worker.

The protesters waved red MHP flags -- depicting three Islamic crescent moons -- and chanted nationalist slogans as they marched beside the Sea of Marmara in sizzling summer heat.

TURKISH INTERESTS

"We are not against the EU, but Europe loves this government because it has sold out Turkey's interests," said Cezmi Kibaroglu, 51, a civil servant.

Nodding in agreement, housewife Hicran Sensivas, 41, said: "Turkey belongs to the Turks, it's as simple as that."

The MHP and other opposition parties have demanded a Turkish army incursion into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels hiding there -- a move U.S. officials say they are increasingly worried about as Ankara masses troops along the border.

Underlining security fears, a Kurdish rebel rocket strike wounded two Turkish policemen on Friday near the Iraqi border.

As well as the AK Party, the MHP and the main opposition centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP), pro-Kurdish activists are also expected to win seats in the new parliament.

Erdogan has expressed concern about likely tensions in the assembly between MHP deputies and supporters of Kurdish rights, whom Turkish nationalists view as a mouthpiece for outlawed rebels fighting security forces in the southeast.

But in Turkey's current nationalist mood, Erdogan also has to handle the Kurdish issue with great care.

Both he and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul condemned comments by Kurdish firebrand Leyla Zana on Friday calling for a federal system of government in Turkey, with more power to the regions.

Prosecutors will investigate her words, Turkish TV said. Zana spent years in jail for speaking Kurdish in parliament in the 1990s and is barred from running in Sunday's election.

Nationalists fear calling into question Turkey's strong central government could lead to the break-up of the country.
Turkish PM, rivals make final appeal to voters - Yahoo! News

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Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on . Turkish PM, rivals make final appeal to voters ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's politicians made a final pitch for votes on the eve of a parliamentary election billed by both the ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party and its nationalist rivals as a key test for their secular democracy. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, 53, hopes his centre-right AK Party's record of strong economic growth, rising living standards and falling inflation will persuade voters to grant him a fresh five-year mandate in Sunday's election. "Let's keep going forward in Rating: 5