The youthful co-leader of Turkey’s HDP has broadened the party beyond its Kurdish roots, helping it become a liberal umbrella group with broad appeal
He sits in his newly-built thousand-room “White Palace”, his plans for a powerful presidency all but ready; but in the very hour that should have seen his final triumph, Tayyip Erdoğan’s star appears to be waning.
With his party’s control of Parliament lost, Mr. Erdogan may have to shelve his plans for a new Turkish Constitution and a more powerful presidency.Dilek Öcalan, niece of jailed PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan, among 96 women who won seats in Grand National Assembly
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was riding for a fall, and has duly fallen. His Justice and Development party (AKP) failed to gain even a simple majority ingeneral elections at the weekend, let alone the super-majority he wanted in order to immediately transform the Turkish political system by introducing an executive presidency. Mr Erdoğan remains president and the AKP the single largest party. Yet Turkish voters have effectively torpedoed the grand project through which Mr Erdoğan had hoped to extend his hold on the country into the far future. In theory, Mr Erdoğan could still obtain the constitutional changes he wants, via a referendum, but that seems highly unlikely. An early return to the polls might improve the party’s parliamentary position, but the momentum that enabled it to dominate Turkish politics for so long has finally been halted
Expect more Turkish turbulence and drama to come, and for Turkish politics to once again resemble the years preceding 2002.
The big winner Serlahattin Demirtaş. Demotix/ Avni Kantan. All rights reserved.
Although the outcome of Turkey’s general election is undoubtedly dramatic, we should be careful not to exaggerate the death either of the ruling AKP or of the country’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s hopes of assuming greater powers suffered a major setback on Sunday when the ruling AK Party he founded failed to win an outright majority in a parliamentary election for the first time.
The Islamic-conservative AKP party lost its absolute majority in Turkey’s general elections on Sunday. The left-leaning pro-Kurdish HDP cleared the ten-percent hurdle and will enter parliament for the first time. Turkish civil society has given the thumbs down to the AKP’s authoritarian style, some commentators write in delight. Others warn of political instability on Europe’s border with the Middle East.
A stunning election result against many odds is a resounding statement of Turkey’s democratic credentials.
Figen Üstündağ. Wikimedia Commons/Voice of America. Some rights reserved.
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Deniz Ulke Aribogan,a professor of political science from IstanbulBilgi University, told Al Jazeera. “The election results are a big success for the HDP as it has moved from a Kurdish-oriented party to a party that addresses the whole Turkey. It got .
Today’s Zaman
Esayan previously wrote for the Taraf daily and the Armenian Agos weekly, and received his master’s degree from İstanbul Bilgi University, writing a thesis titled “The clash of classes, the birth of the bourgeoisie and modernity in 18th century …
Turkey election: ‘Glum faces’ at AKP Istanbul HQ
