Erdogan calls for new Turkey constitution after AKP win

Erdogan has a strong authoritarian streak, is intolerant of dissent and does not hesitate to crush his opponents and critics. The incident has outraged Kurds throughout the region. And to the shock and dismay of many national and global observers, AKP’s cynical gamble of introducing a climate of doom and gloom worked in the party’s favour as it emerged a clear victor with nearly fifty percent of the votes in Sunday’s election.

Erdogan’s party lost its majority rule in June but won renewed support and a new majority in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

But the president now presides over a deeply divided nation.

It has one of the highest thresholds worldwide for political parties: a party must win at least 10 per cent of the vote to enter parliament.

Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu spoke of the AK Party’s election victory claiming that the opposition parties wanted the AK Party “to be weakened” to be able to take over the space it occupies. He said the White Housen was “deeply concerned that media outlets and individual journalists critical of the government were subject to pressure and intimidation during the campaign”.

The pressing economic challenges are another major front the new government in Turkey has to battle.

The Republican People’s Party has not yet set the date for the election of a new leader of the party.

On Wednesday Erdogan was defiant in discussing his party’s victory.

The campaign was so nationally focused that it “excluded the Jews”, said Valansi.

Erdogan, 61, has vowed to be an active president and already stretched the powers of the once-ceremonial presidency since winning the post in August a year ago in the first ever popular vote.

The AKP benefited from many developments since losing the majority in June. If sweeping amendments to the constitution that were proposed in 2014 were to pass, they would strip a few of the executive power from the parliament while increasing the power of the presidency.

In spite of his party’s success last Sunday, he did not achieve a large enough majority, but he is close.

Erdogan’s critics often compare him to Vladimir Putin. Many in Turkey fear that a similar drift toward dictatorship is underway.

In his early years as prime minister, Erdogan’s accomplishments were considerable. The struggle against terrorism and the migration crisis would be discussed at a G20 leaders’ summit in Turkey later this month, he said. The day after the ballot, authorities raided the leftist magazine Nokta, confiscated the latest issue and arrested two editors, charging them with incitement to violence.

Turkey’s strategic significance has grown because of the inflow of refugees from Syria and Iraq to Europe, and an effort to bring Erdogan into line was initiated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her recent visit to Turkey. Much like Vladimir Putin from 2008 to 2012, while he no longer occupies the throne, he wants to be the power behind it. A crackdown on people with alleged links to his enemy Fethullah Gulen shortly after the election showed the way things are continuing to go in Erdogan’s Turkey and since the AKP’s victory he has reiterated his desire to rewrite the constitution. We can only hope that those in Turkey who support a truly democratic and tolerant society will once again regain the initiative.