Turkey's 2015 elections explained

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The general elections in Turkey finished with the Justice and Development Party, or the AKP for short, suffering decisive losses as they no longer form the single dominant party in the Turkish parliament. The AKP is still the largest party with 40.8% of the votes and 258 seats, but that is 18 seats too few to govern alone. The game changer here is the victory of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or the HDP, which is a left-wing party led by Selahattin Demirtas. His party won 13.1% of the votes and 80 seats, which is above the Turkish parliamentary threshold. Thus, for the first time, the long-repressed Kurdish minority will be properly represented in the parliament.

With the outcome of the elections, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu simply lacks the votes needed to form an AKP government. President Erdogan, through a referendum, wanted to transform Turkey into a presidential republic. This would have in turn granted him executive powers, making him more powerful than ever before. Regardless, President Erdogan’s long-term ambition to change the country’s constitution has been disrupted. Considering Erdogan’s track record, his vision of the presidential system would have further eroded the country’s independent institutions, restrained freedom of speech, and increased the polarization of the Turkish public. Even though the AKP still forms the backbone of the parliament, the outcome of the elections have produced a complex political landscape. In essence, an authoritarian single party future for the country has been averted, but a new challenge lies ahead: forming a coalition government.

Soundtrack:

Decisions Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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