Erdogan fails in Turkish vote
TSunday’s historic vote ushers in a new era for Turkey’s largest ethnic minority. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) was on track to win 13% of the vote — well above the 10% threshold for representation in Parliament.
urkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling party suffered a crushing defeat at the ballot box Sunday, as results showed the government losing its single-party majority for the first time since sweeping to power in 2002.
With nearly all the votes counted, the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) received 41% of the vote, according to broadcaster CNN Turk.
The outcome sounds the death knell for Erdogan’s hopes of changing the constitution to concentrate more power in an executive presidency, while denying his Islamist-rooted government the number of seats needed to form a government alone.
Sunday’s historic vote ushers in a new era for Turkey’s largest ethnic minority. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) was on track to win 13% of the vote — well above the 10% threshold for representation in Parliament. The HDP restyled itself as a liberal party for the disenfranchised minorities and voters angry with Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas called his party’s ability to cross the threshold a “fabulous victory for peace and freedoms” that came despite fierce campaigning by Erdogan. “As of now the discussions on a presidential system, a dictatorship has come to an end,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
Despite the blow to the governing party, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was defiant, claiming that the AKP “emerged victorious” in Sunday’s vote.
Soner Cagaptay, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, called HDP the winner “and the loser is Erdogan’s presidential ambition.”
“The takeaway is that Turkey is too big and too diverse for the AKP or any other party to control single-handedly. The other significant takeaway is the Kurds — their future is really intertwined with the future of Turkey.”
The results mark the first time that a Kurdish party will sit in the Turkish Parliament.
Wild celebrations erupted in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, an HDP stronghold. “This is a historic day for the Kurdish people, but also for democracy in Turkey,” said construction worker Vesi Hassan, 37.
Turkey’s economy, already grappling with sluggish growth and rising unemployment, could take a further hit, said Wolfango Piccoli, managing director at Teneo Intelligence, a New Yorkbased risk consulting firm.
“Erdogan is unlikely to alter his overall stance, governing style and policy agenda in the aftermath of this electoral defeat,” Piccoli said.
The AKP will have 45 days to form a coalition government, and if unable to do so, Erdogan could call an early election.