Story highlights
AK Party, which had hoped for two-thirds majority, fell below even 50%
Erdogan's strategy of wooing Kurdish voters failed
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Friday for new parliamentary elections on November 1 in an effort to break an impasse left by inconclusive elections in June that left no single party with a governing majority.
Erdogan asked Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on July 9 to form a new government within 45 days. That period will end Sunday.
According to Turkey’s Constitution, when the 45-day period expires without a government being formed, the President can decide to hold a new election.
Erdogan and his AK Party, or Justice and Development Party, had hoped to win a two-thirds majority in Parliament to allow them to amend the Constitution and make the President’s position – Erdogan’s position – more powerful.
Kurdish election strategy failed
But his strategy of wooing Kurdish votes by negotiating an end to the long Kurdish insurgency, which has cost an estimated 40,000 lives over the past 30 years, failed. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, did better than the AK Parky expected and won 80 seats, depriving the AK Party of even a majority, never mind the two-thirds percentage for which it had hoped.
Erdogan asked Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on July 9 to form a new government within 45 days. That period will end on Sunday.
According to Turkey’s Constitution, when the 45-day period expires without the formation of a government, the President can decide to hold a new election.
Turkey, one of the strongest and most important players in the Middle East, recently did an about face and joined the fight against the terrorist group ISIS, which includes many Turks.
