Turks Vote in Historic Elections that could Shape Future of Turkey
Turks began voting in an historic poll that may very well determine the future of the country, as the ruling AKP party seeks a parliamentary majority that would allow it to rewrite the constitution and create a presidential system with the dictatorial Recep Tayyip Erdogan at its head.
Reuters reports that the elections are expected to be the closest contest in more than a decade of AKP rule. AKP faces still challenges to its efforts to win the majority it needs to rewrite the constitution.
A number of polls have suggested the AKP will get less than the necessary percentage of votes, while troubling economic indicators such as the value of the Turkish lira and the rate of unemployment have dampened enthusiasm for the party credited with vaulting Turkey into the 21st century.
The AKP party has also been buffeted with allegations of corruption that have extended all the way up to Erdogan himself and his family.
The biggest threat to the AKP is the People's Democratic Party (HDP). The HDP needs to cross the 10 percent threshold needed for representation in parliament. The party's traditional power base is the country's large Kurdish minority, but in this election it has sold itself as a bulwark that could stop the AKP from getting the votes it needs to rewrite the constitution.
A number of polls have shown the HDP just barely passing the threshold needed for representation.
HDP voters will surely be motivated, as one of their election rallies was targeted by bombs in the largest Kurdish city in Turkey, Diyarbakir. In that incident, two bombs exploded in the midst of a rally, killing two people, including a teenage boy. Hundreds were said to be injured by nails and ball bearings that were used as shrapnel.
