The Heat discusses the Turkish elections

The Heat

Say goodbye to 13 years of Turkey’s one party rule. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wanted to change Turkey’s constitution to expand the president’s powers. Voters rejected that, but a historic breakthrough for Turkey’s pro-Kurdish coalition was with the HDP. What will this result mean for the region?

The AKP won around 258 seats — a loss of around 70 seats from the previous election in 2011. That left Erdoğan’s AKP party far short of the majority it needed to form a single-party government and change in the Constitution.

Erdoğan was seeking a two-thirds majority-enough to amend the constitution and transform Turkey into a presidential republic, shifting more power from parliament to the presidency, but
Turkey’s voters said no.

Nora Fisher Onar joined the Heat to discuss, she is a fellow at the Transatlantic Academy and the German Marshall Fund in Washington.

The Heat continued its discussion with a panel who focuses on Turkish issues:

  • Kani Xulam, director of American Kurdish Information Network.
  • From Ankara, journalist Tulin Daloglu.
  • And Hakan Camuz, chairman of the UK branch of the Turkish Independent Industrialists & Businessmen’s Association.

The Heat discusses the Turkish elections pt. 2

The Heat continued its discussion with a panel who focuses on Turkish issues.