Legislative Elections, 12 June 2011

Four major political parties competed in the Turkish legislative elections of June 2011: the governing Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP), the Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi, BDP).

An array of opinion polls augured victory for the AKP with a share of votes ranging between 43 and 55 percent. The same polls predicted that the CHP would win between 23 and 32 percent of the votes, the MHP between 9 and 15 percent, and the BDP between 5 and 8 percent. Although there was next to no doubt about the AKP government being re-elected, these elections acquired special significance and interest due to the fact that the distribution of seats in the new parliament will have a direct effect on the process of drawing up a new Turkish constitution, the most important project on the agenda of the coming parliamentary term.