Erdogan’s AKP loses majority; Kurdish party enters parliament
Istanbul (AsiaNews) – The results of yesterday’s Turkish elections have been surprising: with the count almost finished, the HDP Kurdish party led by the charismatic figure of Selahattin Dermitas (pictured), will enter parliament for the first time in the history of the Republic of Turkey.
The HDP has in fact managed to overcome the fateful election threshold of 10% and reached 13% (about 79 members), surpassing the most optimistic predictions. Its success also means that the AKP have failed to reach the threshold of 330 deputies needed to hold a referendum to change the constitution. With these results, the HDP has dealt a temporary blow to Erdogan’s dreams of becoming absolute master.
In the Turkish electoral system, the threshold of 10% on a national scale was imposed precisely to block access of a Kurdish party to the parliament, the last large bloc of people left in the mosaic of Republican Turkey, after the historic suppression of Christian populations.
However, the AKP is still the largest party in Turkey, with its 41% (about 258 MPs). In the last elections of 2011, Erdogan's party had reached 49.95%, but now, due to the entry into parliament of the HDP, it has failed to reach the threshold of 275 +1 deputies to have a majority in parliament, made up of 550 deputies.
The second largest party is the CHP with 25% (about 132 members) more or less stable, while the nationalist MHP party, the party of the Grey Wolves, has reached 16.5% (about 81 members), compared to 12.98% in 2011.
Kurds win in Diyarbakir and Istanbul
The HDP won 80% of the vote in the area of Diyarbakir in the south east of the country and became the third party in Istanbul with 15%, tripling its votes from 2011. This is not surprising given that Istanbul, the true capital of Turkey, is the biggest Kurdish city in the country.
Among those elected in the ranks of HDP is Feleknas Uca, 39, a doctor, born and raised in Germany and former Green MEP and Armenian Garo Pailan.
Shortly before the election Selahhatin Dermitas, sent a message to President Erdogan: he will never become the undisputed leader of Turkey as long as there is the HDP. Now the prophecy has come true.
Erdogan’s quoting from the Koran in Kurdish, in an attempt to win over the religious sentiment of this population – which in fact very conservative - against the secular concept of the HDP party failed. Also because Diyarbakir, near the Syrian-Iraqi border, is aware of the acts of the worst ambassadors for the Muslim cause, Islamic State militants, who are supplied by Erdogan, as stated by the academic Nurai Mert.
Uncertainty about the new government
At this point the question is who will govern Turkey. Some point to the formation of a coalition, which after 13 years, will also be the first non-monochromatic government. If this is not to be the case then there will be new early elections.
The leader of the HDP, Selahattin Dermitas, has ruled out a coalition with AKP.
The only possible alliance remains that of a coalition government between the AKP and the ultra-nationalist MHP. They have come out strengthened by these results, united to the party of the outgoing government, in religious conception and anti-Kurdish sentiment.
This coalition would mean the end of a rapprochement - as Erdogan has attempted several times in the past - with the Kurdish population, estimated at 18 million and a steadily growing demographic. In short, after years, Turkey has finally woken up, albeit in a climate of uncertainty.
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30/03/2023 21:25
