The vote was a rerun of a June election in which the Justice and Development Party surprisingly lost its one-party rule because of a strong showing by a Kurdish party.
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And even as worries persisted about the polarization of Turkish society and a drift toward authoritarianism, the AKP was close enough that many here predict it will be only a matter of time before Erdogan’s party secures additional support to move forward with a new constitution.
The conservative, ruling AKP will only have 34 female lawmakers in the legislature out of 317 seats secured by the party – just one in 10 of the party’s deputies.
Results were announced to the general elections on November 2, 2015 which were held in Turkey on November 1, 2015. That Turkey ranks among the world’s most prolific jailers of journalists further exemplifies Erdogan’s autocratic streak.
During a victory speech, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, leader of the AKP, declared that the win outlined the decision by the public to choose stability and democracy for Turkey.
More than 54 million people were eligible to vote at more than 175,000 polling stations.
“You saw the dirty games played in our country, and you have changed the game”, Davutoglu said. Erdogan’s 13-year stint – first as prime minister and now president – has seen substantial economic growth in Turkey. Stocks, government bonds and the lira all rallied Monday on news that the AKP had won outright.
A senior official from the main CHP opposition, which had calculated on “reining in” Erdogan’s influence with a coalition government, described the result as “simply a disaster”.
“During Erdogan’s time in power, and specifically in recent years, relations with Israel have deteriorated from cooperation to bitter tensions”, Steinitz said.
“It is obvious in today’s election how beneficial stability is for our nation and today our citizens will make their choice based on this”, Mr Erdogan said after voting in his home district of Camlica, which is on the Asian side of Istanbul.
Security was high in Turkey during the election. Going into the elections, all the polling indicated that the AKP would garner about 40% of the vote, which would force it to seek coalition partners to form a government. When it could not, new elections were called and on Sunday, Erdogan snagged the gold ring.
Analysts say anxiety over the resurgent Kurdish conflict that has plagued Turkey for three decades and a spate of bloody attacks by the Islamic State group were key reasons why voters flocked back to the AKP.
“Unfortunately, it was a hard and troubled period of election campaigning”.
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It said the campaign for Sunday’s vote was characterised by “unfairness” and “fear” after a surge in violence. “My wish is that a great hope for peace and calm emerges (from the vote)”.
