Turkish Elections Strengthen the Ruling AKP Government; New York Times Says Elections Affirm Democracy in Turkey
By Daniel Hollingsworth
July 26, 2007 | Printer Friendly

Results from Turkish elections held on Sunday, July 22 indicate a strong victory for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  In registering greater support for the AKP, a party with Islamic roots, some observers argue that Turkey is continuing to move away from the strong secular tradition that has existed since the country’s founding.  A July 24, 2007 editorial in the New York Times entitled “Democracy Affirmed” argues differently, calling the re-election victory “a tribute to the growing maturity of that country’s politics and an inspiration for the cause of democracy in the broader Muslim world.”  The editorial praises Turkish voters for “rightly reject[ing] the claim asserted by the traditional military-secular establishment that there is any fundamental incompatibility between democracy and Islam.”

The AKP managed to win 46.6 percent of the votes, an increase of more than 10 percent from its 2002 election results, even though there is an 11 seat drop in parliamentary seats from the previous elections, due to a “stronger performance by the nationalists” which passed the 10 vote threshold for parliamentary representation.  The election was also hailed as a victory for the Kurdish Democratic Society which will be represented in parliament for the first time in more than a decade.

The election comes after a political deadlock that occurred when opposition parties in parliament blocked the AKP’s nomination for the post of president based on the candidate’s strong Muslim background, and the results could portend another such crisis.
The military secular establishment is highly suspicious of any perceived encroachment of religion into the public sphere, and it has ousted four governments in the last half century.  However, many liberal Turks who have previously supported the secular elite are now turning their backs on it.  Sabrina Tavernise writes in the July 23 New York Times that recent political developments indicate that “rigid secular rules of the last century which forbid minorities from expressing their identities and women from wearing headscarves in public need to be left behind.”  

The results from the weekend polls are an indication of a changing Turkey where even liberals are willing to vote for a religious party in support of the economic strides and successes of the last five years.  Since coming into power almost five years ago, the AKP, under Erdogan’s leadership, has managed to promote polices that have led to “strong economic growth and helped bring runaway inflation back under control.”  He has also pushed through a series of legal reforms that have expanded human rights and brought Turkish law closer to European standards, orienting Turkey toward the prospect of EU membership.

References:

BBC News: EU welcomes Erdogan election win

New York Times: Democracy Affirmed (Editorial)

New York Times: Ruling Party in Turkey Wins Broad Victory

Associated Press: Turkey’s Challenge: Elect a President