A new
secular Kurdish party achieved the 10% threshold to hold seats in Parliament, which
will be the first time that Kurds will be Members of the Turkish Parliament, while
the two main secular opposition parties earned the rest of the majority. None of these parties is likely to govern in
coalition with the ruling party.
A coalition government must be
formed by a certain time or else Turks will have to return to the polls for
another round of parliamentary elections.
The current Prime Minister will continue to govern in the meantime, but
only as a caretaker. The Islamist
President will remain in power, but his attempt to gain more powers
constitutionally will be halted, as Turkey will remain a parliamentary,
not a presidential state.
The growing authoritarianism of Turkey ’s Government
and the President’s attempt at gaining more powers, as well as public
corruption and an economic slowdown were the issues that led to the defeat of
the Islamists. The Islamist Government
had repressed dissidents, compromised the independence of the judiciary and
violated the freedom of the press.
Turkey, a
member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, had long been a secular
representative republican oasis in the Middle East and a reliable Western ally,
but has suffered worsening relations with its neighbors and the West amidst
various crises in the Middle East, including the Syrian Civil War and the
Islamist-Baathist insurgency in Iraq. Turkey has
aspired to join the European Union, but faced obstacles because of its decline
of secularism and civil rights.
It is hoped that Turkey will enjoy liberty, secular
civilian representative government, equality for minorities, peace, stability
and prosperity. It is also hoped that a
new government will restore Turkey
to its role as a trusted Western ally against Islamism, play a more helpful
role in resolving the ethnic Greek-Turkish division in Cyprus and become more integrated into Europe .
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