Recep Erdogan wins by landslide in Turkey’s general election

Centre-right Justice and Development party secures 49.9% of all votes, giving it 325 seats in parliament Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become the most successful prime minister in the history of Turkey’s multiparty system after a landslide victory at the country’s general election. His centre-right Justice and Development party (AKP), in power since 2002, won 49.9% of all votes, giving it 325 seats in parliament. The result falls short of the two-thirds majority needed to rewrite Turkey’s 1982 military constitution without having to consult parliament. The Republican People’s party (CHP), came second with 25.9%. The only other party to gain seats in parliament, the Nationalist Movement party (MHP), took 13%, seemingly unaffected by a sex tape scandal that caused the resignation of 10 senior party members. Thirty-six independent candidates, most of whom are backed by the Kurdish BDP, were also voted in, among whom was Kurdish campaigner Leyla Zana from Diyarbakir. Turnout was 84.79%. “Erdogan wants to implement a presidential system,” Gencer Ozcan, professor for international relations at Bilgi University told the Guardian. “This is the main goal of a new constitution. This is the first time that the prime minister handpicked all AKP candidates, assuring absolute loyalty within his own party.” But the election result requires wider parliamentary consensus on a new constitution. This comes as good news to government critics who, concerned about Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian stance, accused him of wanting to “Putinise” the country in an effort to remain in charge beyond 2015, when he would be barred from serving as prime minister again. Speaking at a victory rally in the capital, Ankara, Erdogan adopted a conciliatory tone: “Today workers, pensioners, farmers have won. People in the villages have won. Today 74 million people have won. Today the western world, Tripoli, Gaza have won. The Middle East, the Balkans, Europe have won. Peace, justice and stability have won.” Of the planned new constitution, he said: “We will go to the opposition. We will consult with the media and academics to find a consensus. We will not close our doors regarding the constitution, only because we haven’t reached 330 seats.” However, after a vexed election campaign, several political commentators expressed scepticism about Erdogan’s promise of compromise. The AKP will face a rocky third term. Analysts predict a dangerously overheating economy, and Turkey’s “zero-problem” foreign policy is being challenged by regional uprisings such as that in neighbouring Syria, long an ally of AKP-ruled Turkey. Journalist Oral Çalislar told the Guardian: “Prime minister Erdogan has already indicated that after the elections, the honeymoon with Syria will be over. Turkey will take a much harder stance, and side with the EU to solve the Syrian problem.” The handling of Turkey’s large Kurdish minority will also be a key issue. At a ballot station in the predominantly Kurdish area of Dolapdere, Süleyman Demir expressed his dissatisfaction with the AKP. “We don’t expect anything from the government any more”, he said. “Erdogan has made his view on Kurdish rights only too clear over the past weeks.” During the election campaign Erdogan adopted a harsher and more nationalistic tone which, critics say, has alienated many Kurds. “There is no comparison any more to the Erdogan of 2002 and 2005. He has turned his stance by 180 degrees,” said 34-year-old Demir. He, like many Kurds, voted for one of the independent candidates backed by the Kurdish BDP. “We don’t want any canals, bridges or airports,” he said in reference to Erdogan’s regeneration schemes. “We don’t need any ‘crazy projects’. All we want is peace, and an end to the bloodshed in the south-east.” Turkey Middle East Europe guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 12, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.