​(B)ahceli for Victory

TURKEY - In Brief 25 Jun 2018 by Atilla Yesilada

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These are my first impressions, which are likely to evolve during the course of the day. It is too simplistic to say “Erdogan and AKP-MHP have won, and nothing will change”. First, AKP has lost big, dropping 7 handles vs. November 2015 general elections. Erdogan has only clinched victory, because unlike in the referendum, MHP voters decided to follow the advice of their beloved leader Bahceli, voting for him. Bahceli is the true winner of these elections, in the sense that neither repeat elections nor legislation/ executive action can be possible without his consent. Elections have once again verified the undying love affair of Turkey’s citizens with democracy, as skewed as it may be. They were also free, though perhaps not fair. With CHP candidate Ince conceding defeat, and the CHP-led NGO platform Fair Elections reporting results very close to those published by High Election Council, I’m extremely relieved that there was no noticeable fraud and the free will of the people was reflected to the ballot. What can I say about the near future? Mr. Erdogan told in his first press conference that “he gets the message the voters sent to his party in the ballot and he shall start working immediately to address its shortcomings”. While this admission may mean many things, I tend to interpret it as a more tolerant treatment of opposition and keeping the promise of lifting the State of Emergency when it expires mid-July. Bahceli commented that the nation endowed upon his party the role of supervisor and referee of national politics. How he intends to fashion that role is the biggest puzzle going forward, for which I have only few clues.The 10% showing by Good Party heralds the r...