What next? Assessing the outcome of Turkey’s parliamentary elections

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Dr. Demir Murat Seyrek and Amanda Paul, European Policy Centre (EPC) Senior Policy Analyst, assessed, at a briefing held at EPC, the outcome of Turkey’s parliamentary elections and discussed the implications for the AKP and President Erdoğan, the possible coalition formations, the impact on the country’s foreign policy and economy, and Turkey’s future.

The Turkey parliamentary elections of 7 June 2015 were hailed as historic and ground-breaking. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) not only lost the elections – for the first time in 13 years they don’t have the support of an absolute majority of voters –, but the elections also saw the surge of three opposition parties, with the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) even crossing the 10% election threshold. The outcome of the elections carried the clear message that the Turkish people want change, and that they have had enough of the authoritarian style of President Erdoğan, his ‘presidential governance’ aspirations and the country’s backtracking on democratic reform and the rule of law in recent years.

For more information regarding the post-election event, please click here.