But new elections were called when Erdogan’s AKP party was unable to find coalition partners, thus giving the controversial leader another chance to lead the government of his choosing.
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Erdogan’s AKP (Justice and Development Party) received an unexpected majority in the country’s second election within five months, strengthening the lira by more than 5% to 2.7583 versus the dollar and sending it to its highest level since July 24.
“Today is the day of victory but it is also a day for humility”, Davutoglu said, addressing supporters in his hometown of Konya, where he voted.
According to Ennahda Party sources, Ghannouchi also called Turkey’s Erdogan to congratulate him on the AK Party’s victory in the country’s 26th general elections.
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 European Union will work together with the future government in order to further enhance the EU-Turkey partnership and to continue to advance our cooperation across all areas for the benefit of all citizens”, they said.
“For us to say the peace process has started, the factors poisoning this process should be removed”, he told NTV television.
The outcome was a shock to many as opinion polls had predicted a replay of the June election when the AKP won only 40 percent of the vote and lost its majority for the first time in 13 years.
The main opposition CHP won about 25 percent of the vote (134 seats), while the nationalist MHP party secured nearly 12 percent, 40 seats.
The pro- HDP party has claimed 10.8 percent to get 59 seats. The secularist Republican People’s Party was hovering around the same result as in June.
But almost 50% of voters cast ballots for Erdoğan’s AK Party on Sunday in a surprise victory that brought them back to power, though a few have accused the AK Party of fraud.
In a statement, Erdogan said the election result showed people chose environment of stability and confidence and asked people to respect the election’s turnout.
Amid renewed violence in Turkey following the June vote, Erdogan and Davutoglu argued that only a single-party majority could restore stability.
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Turkey was also rocked by a string of attacks blamed on the Islamic State group, including twin suicide bombings at an Ankara peace rally last month that killed 102 people – the bloodiest in Turkey’s modern history.
