Voters deny Erdogan’s party majority – and his dream of greater power

President's AKP headed for worst election result since storming to power in 2002.

A man wounded in bomb blasts at a rally of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party in Diyarbakir two days before Turkey’s general election casts his vote in the south-eastern city on June 7. Ilyas Akengin / AFPShow less

ISTANBUL // Turkish voters dealt a devastating blow yesterday to president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions to expand his power.

Mr Erdogan’s party, the ruling AKP, was seeking 330 seats in the 550-seat parliament to be able to call a referendum on constitutional change.

Instead the party lost so many seats that it fell short of an overall majority, and will have to form a coalition government.

The main winner was the pro-Kurdish HDP, which passed the 10 per cent vote threshold to enter parliament for the first time.

With 98 per cent of votes counted, the AKP was on course to win the election but with a share of the vote well down on the almost 50 per cent it recorded in the 2011 polls. It was the worst election result for Mr Erdogan’s party since it came to power in 2002.

The AKP secured 41 per cent of the vote, followed by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), with the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) fourth on 12.5 per cent, according to the results broadcast on television channels.

The CHP is set to reap 25 per cent of the vote and the MHP 16.5 per cent.

The result suggests 259 seats in parliament for the AKP, 131 for the main opposition CHP, 82 for the nationalist MHP and 78 for the HDP.

The election outcome wrecks Mr Erdogan’s dream of a new constitution to switch Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system. Such a change would have required a two-thirds majority in the parliament.

Mr Erdogan – prime minister from 2003 to 2014 before becoming president – wanted to be enshrined as Turkey’s most powerful figure and strengthen the office of the presidency, which was largely ceremonial until his arrival. Opponents, however, feared it could mark the start of one-man rule, with Mr Erdogan likely to seek another presidential mandate in 2024.

The loss of the overall majority marks the AKP’s worst election performance since its swept the staunchly secular pro-military order from power in 2002 polls.

The result however will also be a disappointment for the CHP, which has struggled to present itself as a credible opposition.

Analysts see the nationalist MHP as the most likely coalition partner for the AKP in the new parliament.

Casting his vote in Istanbul, Mr Erdogan acknowledged the campaign had been a “challenging marathon”. He said: “The signs of a strong democracy will bolster confidence in the future, if the nation’s will is realised this evening.”

Mr Erdogan’s heavy involvement in the campaign in favour of the AKP had been controversial given that, as head of state, he is required to keep an equal distance from all parties.

He had concentrated his fiercest campaign attacks for the charismatic HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas, belittling him as a “pretty boy” who was merely a front for Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) separatist militants.

“Hopefully we will wake up to a new and freer Turkey on June 8,” Mr Demirtas said as he cast his vote in Istanbul

The election took place under the shadow of violence, after two people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on an HDP rally in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir on Friday. More than 400,000 police and gendarmerie were deployed across Turkey.

Casting his vote in his home region of Konya, prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a man had been arrested over the attack and was being checked for links to militant groups.

In Diyarbakir, several people wounded in the attack defied their injuries to vote. “I am not Kurdish but I voted for the HDP to have a fairer parliament and make sure the AKP obtains fewer seats,” said Ilker Sorgun, 27, as he cast his vote in Ankara.

* Agence France-Presse