Turkish PM celebrates election victory in Istanbul

This is the second vote in five months for Turkey; following in the wake of a June poll in which the right-wing AKP failed to secure a majority for the first time since rising to power in 2002.

Speaking to thousands of people who waited for hours in the cold to hear him speak from the balcony of AKP headquarters in Ankara, he vowed to protect the rights of all of Turkey’s 78 million people.

Two recent massive suicide bombings at pro-Kurdish gatherings, which killed a few 130 people and were apparently carried out by an Islamic State cell, had also raised tensions.

Erdogan’s supporters wave AKP flags as they celebrate in Istanbul after the first results in the country’s general election on November 1, 2015.

Acting Prime minister and Head of the AKP Ahmet Davutoglu stepped away from irritating statements declaring that his party’s victory was a victory of all Turkish and that there was ‘no loser’. More than 385,000 police patrolled the streets for the nine hours of voting.

“Turnout is one of the highest in the country’s history”. “That’s an illustration of how important the country sees this vote for the opposition parties”.

Turkey’s Western allies have voiced deep concerns over media intimidation in the run-up to the election that returned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party to power. But the public is wary of excessive concentration of power in one individual.

Although a corruption scandal a year ago involving many of Erdogan’s closest allies and the June election setback seemed to suggest his star was on the wane, he has shown that he has a knack for speaking for ordinary Turks, particularly outside the capital and Istanbul. Political instability and the previous failure to form a coalition government undermined the lira.

“Today is a day of victory, but a day to be modest”, he said in brief remarks before going to visit the tomb of Celalluddin Rumi, the mentor of Turkey’s main Sufi religious order, the Mevlana, often called the dervishes. “According to Roxana Hulea, an emerging markets strategist at Société Générale in London, the AKP’s victory “….may be the optimal election outcome for near-term economic and asset dynamics in Turkey”. The party’s gamble to push for snap elections instead of forming a coalition government has paid off and Turkey will return to rule under a single party. However, he cautioned that “significant challenges remain” including the Kurdish problem, the need for a new constitution, eroding quality of institutions, and the need for a resumed reform zeal to improve democratic and individual rights.

“Unfortunately, it was a hard and troubled period of election campaigning”.

It said on Monday that the campaign for Sunday’s vote was characterised by “unfairness” and “fear” after a surge in violence. “My wish is that a great hope for peace and calm emerges (from the vote)”.

The HDP favours the resumption of peace efforts to end the Kurdish conflict. It has already been reported that 35 of Erdogan’s political rivals have been arrested.