As everyone will probably know by now, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the presidential elections to happen on June 24th. This is 18 months before they were originally planned (which was November 3, 2019). This is the first set of parliamentary and presidential elections that are held under Turkey's new system that gives Erdogan more executive powers.
In 2017 Erdogan had a constitutional referendum, which meant that if successful, which it was, the Prime Minister office would be abolished, and the existing parliamentary of government would be replaced by an executive presidency and a presidential system. The campaign was won by 1.25 million more votes than the no campaign, which only had 600 000 votes. So the previously mentioned changes to the constitution has been made. Prior to the voting day, Erdogan encouraged people of Turkish decent in European countries, such as The Netherlands, Germany, and France, to go out on the streets to campaign for the referendum. During this time of political unrest between these countries, The Netherlands refused Turkish Ministers access to the country - because of own general elections happening at that time. In response, the Dutch were compared to Nazis, called fascists, accused the Netherlands of the mass murder that happened in Srebrenica and imposed multiple sanctions on the country. My personal favourite thing that happened during this time period was that Turkey sent back 40 Holstein Friesian cows, because the breed started to cause serious problems.
One of the main problems that come with having the elections 18 months ahead of time, is that the opposition do not have the ability to be organised for the general elections. Which is only good for Erdogan, as this does not give him any serious rivals. These early elections are partially to do with the economy and the Syrian War. People believe that the current political climate is more 'fruitful', rather than the potential worsening political climate if they were to be held in November 2019. Others say it is a move to establish a more stable and stronger government. Political analyst, Hilal Kaplan, told Al Jazeera "The elections will put the country on the right track with a strong presidential government. The aim of the upcoming polls is to establish a more stable and strong administration amid hard issues Turkey is facing..."
In theme to this weeks topics discussed in class. Erdogan's rule as President of Turkey has not been without protests, or attempted coups. Just last week, on June 1st, there were protests in Istanbul. Opponents marched through the streets of Istanbul to mark the five years since mass protests broke out to oppose Erdogan's rule. Protesters were blocked off by police barricades when they reached Gezi Park, but as of yet, there has been no confrontation between police and protesters. Even though this was a different story in 2013, when there were 22 casualties, including a 15 year old boy who has now become a modern icon for protesters in Turkey. I'm expecting to see numerous protests to break out across Turkey in the lead up to the elections on June 24th - so I'll be following these elections closely to see how this will all unfold.
Articles:
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/erdogan-call-snap-elections-turkey-180418191340799.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/16/erdogan-claims-victory-in-turkish-constitutional-referendum
https://nltimes.nl/2018/02/05/turkish-dutch-foreign-relations-break-ambassador-recalled
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/779790/Turkey-expels-Dutch-cows-diplomatic-amid-crisis-with-The-Netherlands
http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/01062018
Good post, Isabelle!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of regime does Erdogan lead? And is he personalizing power?
Most definitely an authoritarian regime, if not heading towards a dictatorship. I was reading an article on the New Yorker, that was posted last year, that the voting occurred in government created atmosphere of violence, intimidation and fear. With anyone that campaigned against the referendum was shot at. And the year prior to that, Erdogan's government had been ridding the government of the remaining democratic opposition. Like mentioned, following the referendum from last year that led to the abolition of the office of the Prime Minister and of Turkey's parliamentary system, he well and truly has brought the Turkish democracy to an end.
ReplyDeleteFor sure, and that's probably why he is calling for the elections so early - in case there is trouble on the horizon and he'd lose his grip on the power he's gained so far, if the elections were held in November 2019.