Die türkischen Parlamentswahlen, die am 22. Juli 2007 stattgefunden haben, waren ein ‚bemerkenswerter Schritt in Richtung demokratische Konsolidierung und Zivilregierung‘. Dies schreibt Gunes Murat Tezcur für die Internetseite Open Democracy.
Turkish voters conferred „undisputed legitimacy“ to the governing, moderate Islamist Justice and Development party (AKP), observes Tezcur – in an election called in response to the military’s April intervention in defence of the country’s secular tradition to prevent AKP candidate Abdullah Gül becoming president.
Tezcur believes that the July 22 election reinforced the AKP’s position as the „single most authoritative force in Turkish politics“. It increased its share of the vote by 13 percentage points to 47%, giving it control of 340 of parliament’s 550 seats.
He claims that if the AKP can translate its popular mandate into major political reform, then Turkey may emerge as the „only Muslim-majority country where secularism and democracy coexist“.
Tezcur outlines five contributory factors to the AKP’s success:
- The economic stability and prosperity achieved under the AKP government since 2002.
- The military’s involvement in – and the compromising of the opposition parties by – the presidential crisis.
- The leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- The AKP’s superior organisational structure, including its local branches.
- The relative weakness of the opposition parties.
Additionally, he highlights the role of social policy in the AKP’s popular appeal – its policies have helped consolidate its support from lower-income families – as well as the fact that none of the accusations directed against it – that it was „anti-secular, soft on terrorism and corrupt“ – convinced the electorate.
Tezcur claims that the Turkish electorate demonstrated an „admirable degree of sophistication“ by re-electing the AKP, and gives two reasons for claiming that there is now a „golden opportunity“ for a new era of political reform:
First, the new parliament will be free from the legitimacy crisis that „bedevilled“ its predecessor, and second, the AKP leadership appears to be committed to „overhauling the entire political system“ – possibly even introducing a new constitution that „fosters parliamentary and pluralistic democracy“ and „directly addresses Turkey’s chronic problems of the violation of human and political rights“.
For Tezcur, how the AKP responds to Kurdish demands for greater political and civil rights are a „litmus test“ of Turkey’s democratisation.
He concludes by stating that the 22 July election contains „the seeds of hope for a fresh, democratic turn“ in Turkish politics.