- Title: TURKEY-ELECTION/OPINION Turks, Kurds, mull Turkey's game-changing election result
- Date: 8th June 2015
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF HURRIYET DAILY NEWS ANKARA OFFICE, SERKAN DEMIRTAS, SAYING: "I think it is an end of a period, a long period that the AKP enjoyed ruling the country on its own, because it had always a good parliamentary majority so it could legislate everything. So it seems that this is an end of an era." PEOPLE ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) ANKARA RESIDEN
- Embargoed: 23rd June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA587QZ99TXKB47QMZKBVFQ5JLT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's hopes of assuming greater powers suffered a major setback on Sunday (June 7) when the ruling AK Party he founded failed to win an outright majority in a parliamentary election for the first time.
Erdogan, Turkey's most popular modern leader but also its most divisive, had hoped a crushing victory for the AKP would allow it to change the constitution and create a more powerful U.S.-style presidency. To do that, it would have needed to win two-thirds of the seats in parliament.
Instead, it has been left unable to govern alone for the first time since it came to power almost 13 years ago. It faces potentially weeks of difficult coalition negotiations with reluctant opposition parties as it tries to form a stable government, and the possibility of another early election.
With 98 percent of ballots counted, the AKP took 40.8 percent of the vote, according to broadcaster CNN Turk, down from 49.8 percent at the last parliamentary election in 2011.
Speaking on Monday (June 8) Editor-In-Chief of the Hurriyet Daily News Ankara, Serkan Demirtas, said the result was significant.
"I think it is an end of a period, a long period that the AKP enjoyed ruling the country on its own, because it had always a good parliamentary majority so it could legislate everything. So it seems that this is an end of an era."
The uncertainty sent the lira currency to a record low against the dollar in thin out-of-hours dealing as investors positioned themselves for what is likely to be a turbulent start of trade on Monday.
One Ankara resident said the result was good for democracy.
"I am in favour of a colourful (multi-cultural) parliament in Turkey and anywhere in world. A genuine democracy can be achieved by lifting the threshold. I think this is a very good result and I am very hopeful," Fatih Aker said.
For jubilant Kurds, who flooded the streets of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir setting off fireworks and waving flags, there was plenty to celebrate. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) crossed a 10 percent threshold to enter parliament for the first time.
With initial results putting it on around 13 percent, HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtas ruled out a coalition with the AKP and said the election outcome had put an end to talk of the stronger presidential powers championed by Erdogan.
Diyarbakir resident Aysel Senses said the result was a victory for the oppressed.
"HDP surpassed the threshold. This was expected for the sake of humanity. This was necessary to bring the peace to this country, to make sure that people are no longer oppressed. This is not just the victory of co-leaders of the party of Demirtas and Yuksekdag but this is the victory of everyone who supported them. We faced bombs and cruelty here. We were oppressed and the winners of this election are the oppressed."
Another resident, Mehmet Altok, called for brotherhood and peace.
"Let's prevent the bloodshed and hold on to fraternity. The president should understand that there are Kurds in this country and there is a Kurdish problem, God willing, this problem will be resolved and everybody will live together in peace."
The AKP's failure to win an overall majority marks an end to more than a decade of stable single-party rule and is a setback for both Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Both men had portrayed the election as a choice between a "new Turkey" and a return to a history marked by short-lived coalition governments, economic instability and coups by a military whose influence Erdogan has now reined in.
The partial results indicated that the HDP, with its roots in Kurdish nationalism, had succeeded in widening its appeal beyond its Kurdish core vote to centre-left and secularist elements disillusioned with Erdogan.
It is now likely to play a significant role in parliament, particularly trying to advance a two-year-old peace process between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which first took up arms in 1984.
The results broadcast by CNN showed the secularist Republican People's Party (CHP) would again be the second biggest group in parliament, with around a quarter of the vote.
The right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), long seen as the AKP's most likely partner in any coalition, took around 16 percent of the vote, but its leader, Devlet Bahceli, all but ruled out a deal with the AKP, saying Turkey should hold a new election if the ruling party was unable to agree a coalition with other opposition parties.
The lira has fallen more than 15 percent against the dollar this year on uncertainty about the election outcome, making it one of the worst-performing emerging market currencies. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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