Turkish general election, 2002

Turkish general election, 2002

1999 ← November 3, 2002 → 2007

Total of 550 seats of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey 276 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Deniz Baykal Party AK Party CHP Leader since 2001 1992 Leader's seat Siirt Antalya Last election – 0 seats, 8.71% Seats won 363 178 Seat change 363 178 Popular vote 10,808,229 6,113,352 Percentage 34.28% 19.38% Swing 34.28% 10.68%

Prime Minister before election Bülent Ecevit DSP Elected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan AK Party

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v t e

Turkey's 15th general election was held on November 3, 2002 following the collapse of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition led by Bülent Ecevit. It was won by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, producing a crushing majority in spite of their winning just 34.3% of the national vote. Notably, every party previously represented in the Grand National Assembly was ejected from the chamber, as none of them crossed the 10 percent threshold. The other party that entered parliament was the Republican People's Party, (CHP) which made a triumphant return after being voted out three years previously. The election produced Turkey's first single party government since 1987 and the country's first two-party parliament in 48 years.

Results [edit]

Voting ended in the country's 32 eastern provinces at 3pm, having begun an hour earlier in morning, and in the remaining 49 provinces at 4pm. Counting began immediately afterwards.

A press black-out was placed on all results by the electoral authority so that it could ensure all ballot boxes were secure, but even when it became clear that every box in the country had been sealed, the authority refused to sway from its original deadline of 9pm. With early results being already announced by foreign media outlets, Turkish television switched to a live shot of the Electoral Authority headquarters until an announcement was made at 7.30pm revoking the black-out.

Total votes and seats for each party [edit]

Interpretation [edit]

The election was widely interpreted as a protest vote against the corruption-riddled traditional forces of Turkish politics. It reflected the soaring popularity of the AKP, established barely a year before, and prompted a number of established party leaders to resign.

Effects [edit]

New government [edit]

Although the AKP's victory was indisputable, Erdoğan's appointment as prime minister was delayed owing to his previous criminal conviction, which prevented him from standing for parliament. Another prominent party member, Abdullah Gül, became prime minister and remained in the position until a constitutional amendment could be pushed through to allow Erdoğan to stand for a freshly vacant seat in a March 2003 by-election.

Party resignations [edit]

The result prompted the near-immediate resignations of several prominent figures in Turkish politics:

• Mesut Yılmaz, former prime minister and leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP). Yılmaz has since returned to active politics in the Motherland Party, but is rumoured to be planning a new party of his own.
• Tansu Çiller, former prime minister and leader of the True Path Party (DYP). Çiller was succeeded by her former interior minister, Mehmet Ağar.
• Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and senior coalition partner in the outgoing government. His resignation was not accepted by his party's central committee, and he remained leader.

Outgoing prime minister Bülent Ecevit was widely expected to resign as leader of his Democratic Left party, but did not end up leaving until a party conference in 2004.

See also [edit]

• Yumak and Sadak v. Turkey

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