Turkey’s Erdogan regains majority in election

A second election within six months has restored Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s parliamentary majority.

His Islamic Justice and Development Party, or AKP, regained all the seats it lost in an election held in June at a time when his government was under attack from widespread public demonstrations.

This result led to a period of political uncertainty, which scared off foreign investors, as the president was unable to form a government.

Mr Erdogan has held power for 13 years and has increasingly widened his control over the military, bureaucracy and civil society, including the media. 

With nearly all the votes counted, the results show the AKP winning about 50% of the vote, giving it enough seats to regain one-party rule in the 550-seat parliament.

Voters who had turned away from Mr Erdogan and the AKP changed their minds and responded to a campaign message that one-party rule was the only way to address growing security concerns, including terrorist attacks inside Turkey itself.

Turkey is also under pressure from its Nato partners to play a bigger role in fighting Islamic State militants and choking off the flow of Middle Eastern refugees pouring into Europe.

In contrast with the June elections, all opposition parties saw their support decline. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, saw its vote fall to just over the 10% electoral threshold to enter parliament.

The HDP’s achievement in securing 13% support in June had propelled it to the national assembly for the first time.

This ended the AKP’s unrivalled control of government and temporarily curbed Mr Erdogan’s push to transfer executive powers to the presidency from parliament.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, dropped to 24% from 25% in June, while the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, fell to 11.7% from 16.3%.

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