AKP won 317 out 550 seats. This is not enough, though, to change the constitution, which was Erdogan’s stated objective before the June 7 election, when he tried to change the nation’s political structure to a presidential republic. At the time it was accused of having close ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for seeking the same rights as that group had been fighting for.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu tweeted: “Elhamdulillah” (We must thank God for it).
In order for these amendments to the constitution to pass in the Turkish parliament, two-thirds of the members of parliament (MPs) have to be in agreement – but in in order to call for a plebiscite on the constitutional changes, only three-fifths of the parliament is needed.
“It is obvious that the current system does not meet Turkey’s needs”. Obviously, these clothes have become too small for our country.
Despite fears of an executive presidency among a few, the constitution is actually in need of change. A prosecutor had ordered the company placed under the management of a trustee during an investigation of its ties to Fetullah Gulen, a U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric the government accuses of trying to destabilize the state. All this only reinforces concerns about the erosion of free speech and the rule of law.
Turkey’s dominant political figure, Erdogan served as prime minister for more than a decade before being elected president a year ago. It is Erdogan who now controls the military and the police. It is said that they blocked all efforts at forming a coalition government and then used the political volatility to project the AKP as the only party capable of providing Turkey with the stability it craved for. “The AKP has made a decision to persist with a war that will bring Turkey face-to-face with big crises at home and overseas”, it said. The reasons for both the initial electoral shock and the subsequent pessimistic (from the perspective of AKP at least) projections for the November elections were manifold, as Erdogan’s persona and policies were deemed to be deeply divisive. In this month’s election, he managed to replace those lost votes with nationalist voters who are frightened of a Kurdish secession and simple souls who just want stability and peace – but he had to start a war to win them over.
“The situation in Turkey has changed after the previous election seriously enough”. The AKP won 258 seats, falling short of the majority mark of 276. It is apparent that Erdogan must work for national reconciliation. As one despairing Turk put it recently, Turkey is becoming a Middle Eastern country. The vote’s results indicate polarization of Turkish society. The Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) will still be presented as a greater threat than the Islamic State, lest the AKP lose its newfound MHP voters. The decisive mandate the party received was unexpected; most poll predictions pointed in the direction of a repeat of the June general election, when no party got majority. Moreover, there are concerns that it may increase.
Europe is already at odds with the USA, which has not agreed to take in a significant number of refugees and migrants although Washington’s ill-conceived policies in Syria and Iraq and its toleration of Turkey’s support for Daesh, Nusra and affiliates are major causes of the exodus. “We insist on rejecting the presidential system”, he said.
Advertisement
The question on everyone’s mind is how the election results will impact the conflict in the east. Ayboga is slightly optimistic.
