2018 Turkish general election

Last updated

2018 Turkish general election
Flag of Turkey.svg
24 June 2018
  2014
2023  
  Recep Tayyip Erdogan 2018 (cropped).jpg Muharrem Ince (cropped).jpg
Nominee Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Muharrem İnce
Party AK Party CHP
Alliance People Nation
Popular vote26,330,82315,340,321
Percentage52.59%30.64%

  Selahattin Demirtas 2018 (cropped).jpg Meral Aksener IYI Party 1 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Selahattin Demirtaş Meral Akşener
Party HDP İYİ
Alliance HDK Nation
Popular vote4,205,7943,649,030
Percentage8.40%7.29%

2018 Turkish Presidential Election Map.svg

President before election

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
AK Party

Elected President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
AK Party

2023  
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
AK Party Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 42.56295−22
CHP Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu 22.65146+12
HDP Pervin Buldan 10.7667+8
MHP Devlet Bahçeli 11.1049+9
İYİ Meral Akşener 9.9643+43
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
2018TurkishGeneralElection.svg
2018 Turkiye Milletvekili Genel Secimleri.png

General elections were held in Turkey on 24 June 2018. Presidential elections were held to elect the President of Turkey using a two-round system. Parliamentary elections took place to elect 600 Members of Parliament to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Contents

The elections had originally been scheduled for 3 November 2019, until the Erdoğan government called for early elections on 18 April 2018.

Background

2017 constitutional referendum

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Erdoğan had long supported a policy of turning Turkey into an executive presidency, replacing the existing parliamentary system of government. [1] With the support of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the government was able to enact a referendum in Parliament, with the vote being set for 16 April 2017. [2]

The proposed constitutional changes would see parliamentary and presidential elections taking place on the same day every five years, with the initial vote being set for 3 November 2019. The number of seats in the Grand National Assembly was to be increased from 550 to 600, although the legislative powers of Parliament would be greatly reduced. Crucially, the office of the President of Turkey would be given powers to rule by decree, becoming both the country's head of state and head of government. [3] Supporters of the changes claimed that the new system would make the system of government more efficient, while critics claimed that it would place too much power in the hands of the president and effectively render parliament powerless. [4] [5]

The constitutional changes were approved by a 51-49% margin, according to official results. However, a last-minute change in the election rules by the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) during the vote allowed unverified ballots to be accommodated into the count, which the opposition alleges added 1.5 million extra ballot papers. [6] The political opposition decried the move to be illegal and were backed by several overseas observer organisations, which claimed that the vote did not meet international standards. [7] However, subsequent legal challenges were all unsuccessful. Thus, the government began enacting 'compliance laws' to prepare for the new executive presidential system of government, which would be fully implemented following the general election scheduled for 3 November 2019. [8]

Early election

Despite over two years to go before the next presidential and parliamentary elections, many observers alleged that the government was preparing for an early vote soon after the 2017 referendum. [9] [10] This was, observers claimed, to speed up the implementation of the executive presidential system and also to prevent the popularity of new opposition movements from reducing support for the government. [11] In October 2017, opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu called for early elections, although there was no official response to this. [12] Meral Akşener, the leader of the newly formed Good Party, alleged that the government were planning an early vote for Sunday 15 July 2018, the second anniversary of the failed 2016 coup d'état attempt. [13] The party held its first ordinary congress on 10 December 2017 and first extraordinary congress on 1 April 2018 in order to be eligible to contest a possible snap election. Despite months of speculation, the government repeatedly claimed that it was in favour of holding elections when they were due, denying that an early vote would take place. [14]

On 17 April 2018, Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, called for early elections for the 26th of August. [15] Bahçeli had previously announced that they would support a re-election bid of the incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. [16] The Justice and Development Party (AK Party), led by Erdoğan, had recently announced an electoral alliance with the MHP called the People's Alliance. [17] Following his call for early elections, Bahçeli met Erdoğan a day later on 18 April. Erdoğan subsequently announced that his party agreed with Bahçeli that an early election was needed to solve the ongoing 'political and economic uncertainty'. He therefore announced that early elections would take place on 24 June 2018. [18]

Presidential election

Candidates

Official list of presidential candidates in order of appearance on the ballot paper [19]
123456
Muharrem Ince cropped.jpg Meral Aksener, September 2021 (cropped).jpg
Recep Tayyip Erdogan 2018 (cropped).jpg
Selahattin Demirtas HDP (cropped).jpg Temel-Karamollaoglu (cropped).jpg
Dogu Perincek in Tasnim News Agency.jpg
Muharrem İnce Meral Akşener Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (incumbent) Selahattin Demirtaş Temel Karamollaoğlu Doğu Perinçek
CHP
(Nation Alliance)
İYİ
(Nation Alliance)
AK Party
(People's Alliance)
HDP
(No alliance)
Felicity
(Nation Alliance)
Patriotic
(No alliance)
Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Justice and Development Party 26,330,82352.59
Muharrem İnce Republican People's Party 15,340,32130.64
Selahattin Demirtaş Peoples' Democratic Party 4,205,7948.40
Meral Akşener Good Party 3,649,0307.29
Temel Karamollaoğlu Felicity Party 443,7040.89
Doğu Perinçek Patriotic Party 98,9550.20
Total50,068,627100.00
Valid votes50,068,62797.79
Invalid/blank votes1,129,3322.21
Total votes51,197,959100.00
Registered voters/turnout59,367,46986.24
Source: YSK

Parliamentary election

Parties contesting the election

Ballot #CoalitionPartyIdeologyLeader
1 People's Alliance AK Parti Justice and Development Party
Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi
Conservatism Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
2MHP Nationalist Movement Party
Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi
Ultranationalism Devlet Bahçeli
3NoneHÜDAPAR Free Cause Party
Hür Dava Partisi
Pan-Islamism Mehmet Yavuz
4VP Patriotic Party
Vatan Partisi
Scientific socialism Doğu Perinçek
5HDP Peoples' Democratic Party
Halkların Demokratik Partisi
Kurdish minority rights Pervin Buldan
Sezai Temelli
6 Nation Alliance CHP Republican People's Party
Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi
Kemalism Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
7SP Felicity Party
Saadet Partisi
Millî Görüş Temel Karamollaoğlu
8İYİ Parti Good Party
İyi Parti
Liberal conservatism Meral Akşener

Results

Parliament of Turkey 2018 Elected.svg
Party or allianceVotes%Seats+/–
People's Alliance Justice and Development Party 21,338,69342.56295–22
Nationalist Movement Party 5,565,33111.1049+9
Total26,904,02453.66344–13
Nation Alliance Republican People's Party 11,354,19022.65146+12
Good Party 4,993,4799.9643New
Felicity Party 672,1391.3400
Total17,019,80833.95189+55
People's Democratic Party 5,867,30211.7067+8
Free Cause Party 155,5390.310New
Patriotic Party 114,8720.2300
Independents75,6300.1500
Total50,137,175100.00600+50
Valid votes50,137,17597.94
Invalid/blank votes1,052,2692.06
Total votes51,189,444100.00
Registered voters/turnout59,367,46986.22
Source: YSK
295491464367
AK PartyMHPCHPİYİHDP

Controversies

The election process was overshadowed many multiple allegations of violations of its integrity. Prominent among them was the allegation of widespread ballot stuffing for the benefit of AK Party and MHP parties in Turkey's east, in particular in Şanlıurfa province. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nationalist Movement Party</span> Turkish far-right ultranationalist political party

The Nationalist Movement Party is a Turkish far-right, ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has been linked to violent paramilitaries and organized crime groups. Its leader is Devlet Bahçeli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devlet Bahçeli</span> Turkish politician (born 1948)

Devlet Bahçeli is a Turkish politician, economist, former deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the far-right, ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meral Akşener</span> Turkish politician (born 1956)

Meral Akşener is a Turkish politician, teacher, historian and academic who is the founder of the Good Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Turkish presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Turkey on 10 August 2014 in order to elect the 12th President. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected outright with an absolute majority of the vote in the first round, making a scheduled run-off for 24 August unnecessary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2015 Turkish general election</span>

General elections were held in Turkey on 7 June 2015 to elect 550 members to the Grand National Assembly. This was the 24th general election in the history of the Turkish Republic, electing the country's 25th Parliament. The result was the first hung parliament since the 1999 general elections. Unsuccessful attempts to form a coalition government resulted in a snap general election being called for November 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November 2015 Turkish general election</span>

General elections were held in Turkey on 1 November 2015 to elect 550 members to the Grand National Assembly. They were the 25th general elections in the History of the Republic of Turkey and elected the country's 26th Parliament. The election resulted in the Justice and Development Party (AKP) regaining a parliamentary majority following a 'shock' victory, having lost it five months earlier in the June 2015 general elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">63rd cabinet of Turkey</span> Government of the Republic of Turkey (2015)

The Second Cabinet of Ahmet Davutoğlu was a temporary election government formed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on the request of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It is also referred to as the Second Davutoğlu Cabinet. As the 63rd government of Turkey, the cabinet presided over the November 2015 general election and dissolved after a new government is formed after the election. It is the first such government to take office in the history of the Turkish Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2015 Nationalist Movement Party election campaign</span>

The Nationalist Movement Party election campaign of June 2015 was the official election campaign of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) for the June 2015 general election in Turkey. The campaign was led by Devlet Bahçeli, who was contesting his fifth successive general election since being elected party leader in 1997.

The 2016 Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congresses referred to two party conventions of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the first of which was held on 19 June 2016, in order to vote on proposed changes to the MHP party constitution and elect a new leader. The congress was initially intended to be held on 15 May 2016 after enough delegates submitted the required signatures, however it was delayed after judiciary conflicts between different courts. After the final decision by Court of Cassation allowing the congress to go ahead, the party executive announced that an extraordinary congress with a leadership election would be held on 10 July while the invitation committee formed by the court declared that the constitutional extraordinary congress would occur on 19 June 2016. Although the MHP executive declared the congress to be against the MHP constitution and legally flawed, the first Congress was held as planned by the inner-party opposition, with a unanimous vote to change the constitution being achieved. The second congress was delayed after judiciary intervention requested by MHP officials, along with a formal request from the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK). The congress was eventually not held, prompting the dissidents to resign and join forces under a new party, namely the Good Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Turkish local elections</span> Municipal elections in Turkey

The Turkish local elections of 2019 were held on Sunday 31 March 2019 throughout the 81 provinces of Turkey. A total of 30 metropolitan and 1,351 district municipal mayors, alongside 1,251 provincial and 20,500 municipal councillors were elected, in addition to numerous local non-partisan positions such as neighbourhood representatives (muhtars) and elderly people's councils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Turkish constitutional referendum</span>

A constitutional referendum was held in Turkey on 16 April 2017 on whether to approve 18 proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution that were brought forward by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). As a result of its approval, the office of Prime Minister was abolished and the existing parliamentary system of government was replaced with an executive presidency and a presidential system. The number of seats in Parliament was raised from 550 to 600, while, among a series of other proposals, the president was given more control over appointments to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). The referendum was held under a state of emergency that was declared following the failed military coup attempt in July 2016.

The 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum 'Yes' campaign was a campaign headed by numerous political parties, non-governmental organisations, individuals and media outlets that successfully campaigned for a 'Yes' vote in the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum. A vote for 'Yes' meant the transformation of Turkey from a parliamentary republic into a presidential republic with an executive presidency. The 'Yes' campaign was rivalled by parties and organisations that led the 'No' campaign. Neither campaign had a united or centralised campaign structure, with rallies and campaign events having been largely organised by political parties independent of each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Good Party</span> Political party in Turkey

The Good Party is a nationalist, Kemalist and conservative political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 by Meral Akşener. The party's name and flag is a reference to the tamga of the Kayı tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Turkish presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Turkey on 24 June 2018 as part of the 2018 general election, alongside parliamentary elections on the same day. They were the first presidential elections held after constitutional amendments were approved in a 2017 referendum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Turkish parliamentary election</span>


Parliamentary elections were held in Turkey on 24 June 2018 as part of general elections, with presidential elections taking place on the same day. Originally scheduled for 27 October 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called snap elections on 18 April after months of speculation. With the passage of a series of constitutional amendments in the 2017 referendum, the number of MPs will be increased from the previous 550 to 600. These representatives will be elected by the constituents of the 87 electoral districts of Turkey by party-list proportional representation.

Multiple political parties in Turkey underwent candidate selection processes in the run-up to the 2018 presidential election. Parties represented in the Grand National Assembly were able to field candidates directly by collecting signatures from at least 20 of their Members of Parliament, as were parties who had no representation but won more than 5% in the previous general election. Candidates that did not meet either criterion were required to obtain over 100,000 signatures from Turkish citizens between 4 and 9 May.

The 12th Nationalist Movement Party Ordinary Congress was a political party convention held by the Turkish right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on 18 March 2018. The Congress resulted in the re-election of Devlet Bahçeli as party leader, having been the only candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2019 Istanbul mayoral election</span> Mayoral election in Istanbul

The June 2019 Istanbul mayoral election was held on 23 June 2019. It was a repeat of the March 2019 mayoral election, which was annulled by the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) on 6 May 2019. The original election had resulted in a narrow 0.2% margin of victory for opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, causing the governing Justice and Development Party to successfully petition for a by-election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Turkish presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Turkey in May 2023, alongside parliamentary elections, to elect a president for a term of five years. Dubbed the most important election of 2023, the presidential election went to a run-off for the first time in Turkish history. The election had originally been scheduled to take place on 18 June, but the government moved them forward by a month to avoid coinciding with the university exams, the Hajj pilgrimage and the start of the summer holidays. It is estimated that a total of 64 million voters had the right to cast their votes in elections, 60.9 million in Turkey and 3.2 million abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presidential campaign</span> Presidential campaign

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his candidate for the Presidential elections 2023 in April 2022. Erdoğan was the candidate of the People's Alliance consisting of the Justice and Development Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Erdogan and his rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu both failed to secure a majority in the first round on 14 May and the election went to a run-off for the first time in Turkish history. On 28 May Erdogan won the election securing 52.18 percent of the vote and claimed victory after 99.4% of the votes were counted in the second round as the Supreme Election Council declared Erdoğan as mathematically elected.

References

  1. "AKP'den başkanlık açıklaması: Nisan ayında referanduma". www.birgun.net.
  2. "YSK Başkanı açıkladı: Referandum 16 Nisanda".
  3. "Anayasa Değişikliği Teklifi'nin Karşılaştırmalı ve Açıklamalı Metni". TÜRKİYE BAROLAR BİRLİĞİ - ANAYASA DEĞİŞİKLİĞİ TEKLİFİ'NİN KARŞILAŞTIRMALI VE AÇIKLAMALI METNİ.
  4. "Büyük ve güçlü Türkiye'ye "evet'".
  5. "CHP 10 MADDEDE ANLATTI: NEDEN HAYIR?". Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  6. Sanchez, Raf; Yüksekkaş, Burhan (16 April 2017). "Erdogan claims victory in Turkish referendum but result swiftly challenged by opposition" via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  7. "AKPM referandum raporunu açıkladı 'YSK kararı yasaya aykırı'".
  8. "Uyum Yasaları Neler Getiriyor?".
  9. "Ankara'da erken seçim iddiaları..."
  10. Sayın, Ayşe (19 April 2018). "2018'de Türkiye: Erken seçim mi, seçime hazırlık yılı mı?" via BBC.com.
  11. "Kulislerde dolaşan erken seçim ve Afrin iddiası Ankara'yı hareketlendirdi". Mynet.
  12. "Kılıçdaroğlu erken seçim dedi".
  13. "Meral Akşener'den Erken Seçim Tarihi: 15 Temmuz 2018".
  14. "Hükümetten en net erken seçim yalanlaması: Erdoğan 'Yok' diyor, o kadar - Diken". 6 March 2018.
  15. "Devlet Bahçeli neden 26 Ağustos tarihini seçti?" . Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  16. "Bahçeli: Erdoğan'ı destekliyoruz" . Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  17. "Devlet Bahçeli: Cumhur ittifakı 2019'da tarih yazacak". Aydınlık Gazetesi.
  18. "Erdoğan açıkladı... Erken seçim tarihi belli oldu".
  19. "Pusuladaki sıralama belli oldu: İnce ilk sırada". Cumhuriyet . 2018-05-14. Archived from the original on 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  20. "The element of surprise in Turkey's election results". Ahval. 1 August 2018. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Turkish general election, 2018 at Wikimedia Commons