Turkish general election, 2011

Updated on Jan 06, 2024

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June 12, 2011 (2011-06-12) Jun 2015 → 341 seats, 46.58% 112 seats, 20.88% 331 102 Date 12 June 2011		Turnout 83.16% ( 1.09 pp) 112 seats, 20.88% 71 seats, 14.27% 102 72 Location Turkey

Winner Recep Tayyip Er Other Instances Turkish general election, Turkish general election, Turkish general election, Turkish general election, Turkish general election

Turkish general election 2011

Turkey's 17th general election was held on 12 June 2011 to elect 550 new members of Grand National Assembly. In accordance to the result of the constitutional referendum held in 2007, the election was held four years after the previous one instead of five.

The result was a third consecutive victory for the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP), with its leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan being re-elected as Prime Minister for a third term with 49.8% of the vote and 327 MPs. This represented an increase of 3.2% since the 2007 general election and an 11.4% rise since the 2009 local elections. The victory was attributed to the strong sustained economic recovery after the 2008 global financial crisis as well as the completion of several projects such as the İzmir commuter railway, inter-city high speed rail lines and airports in Amasya, Gökçeada and Gazipaşa (Antalya).

The Republican People's Party (CHP) also saw an increase in its popular vote share, receiving 26.0% and 135 MPs. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) won 13.0% and 53 MPs, representing a slight loss of support since 2007. The election was the first to be contested by the CHP's new leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who replaced Deniz Baykal as leader in 2010.

The election was marred by violence originating mainly from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is recognised as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

Background

Emboldened by the 2010 constitutional referendum, AKP leaders said they would create a new constitution after the 2011 elections.

Date

On March 3, 2011, Parliament approved a ruling party proposal to set June 12 as the date for the general elections. The proposal was submitted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on February 21 and was approved unanimously in the Parliament's General Assembly. In its proposal, the AKP pointed to the appropriateness of June 12 as the election date considering the June dates for the placement test for high schools (SBS) and the university entrance exam (LYS). Seeking high voter turnout, the heat during the summer was also considered during the choice of date.

Changes to electoral law and regulations

In accordance with a law approved by Parliament last year that made changes to Turkey's election laws, Turkish voters encountered some new rules and reforms during the general election of 2011. The changes sought to bring Turkish election campaign regulations up to European standards.

The age for parliamentary eligibility was reduced from 30 to 25.

Wooden ballot boxes were replaced by new ballot boxes made out of hard plastic that were transparent, shatterproof, and resistant to heat.

Voting booths were upgraded to a stronger, safer, and more portable model.

Voting envelopes were made larger and had different colors for each matter that was being voted upon.

Campaigning was now allowed until two hours after sunset. Under the previous law, campaigning after sundown was forbidden.

Citizens were able to vote without official identification as long as they could provide their identity number.

Anyone who prevented someone from casting their vote would receive three to five years in prison.

Turkish voters living abroad will have to wait for another election to be able to cast their votes in the countries in which they are residing due to the inability to institute electronic voting. Turkish voters abroad thus needed to cast their votes at customs gates.

Regions

The number of MPs by province was redistributed according to the most recent population data. The number of deputies in Parliament for Istanbul was increased by 15, for Ankara by three and İzmir by two; Antalya, Diyarbakır, Van and Şırnak each received one more seat in Parliament. Ankara's two regions yielded 15 and 16 deputies. Istanbul, made up of three regions, elected 30, 27 and 28 deputies. İzmir, with two regions, elected 13 deputies each from both regions.

The number of MPs by province

Parties

On March 5, 2011, Turkey's Supreme Election Board announced that twenty-seven political parties had signed up to participate in the June 12 general elections:

Nine smaller political parties decided to change their election strategy. Some of them decided to participate in the elections as independent, while others formed an alliance under one party. On April 19, 2011, the Supreme Election Board announced that ÖDP and YP could not join the June 12 general elections as they could not hand out their necessary documents on time. Thus, the number of political parties joined the elections dropped to 15.

Justice and Development Party

The large number of applications gave the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) nearly 15 million Turkish Liras in revenue ahead of the June 12 general elections. AKP, which had the most female deputies in the outgoing Parliament, planned to expand that number for the new term. Its aim was that all provinces with four to five deputies had at least one female deputy candidate during the election. The total 5,599 applications to the AKP included those of 855 female candidates and 315 candidates with disabilities. Each male applicant paid a fee of 3,000 liras, while women paid half that sum and people with disabilities had their fees waived. The applications thus brought in a total of 14.85 million liras to the party. This revenue, however, will not remain in the AKP's bank account after the elections, party leader Erdoğan said, explaining that candidates who did not make it onto the party's list will have their money returned.

Key figures who applied to be AKP candidates included Ambassador Volkan Bozkır, the head of Turkey's General Secretariat for the European Union and former Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler.

April 12, 2011, was the last date for political parties to submit their list of candidate MPs to the Higher Election Board for the general elections. Prime Minister Erdoğan dismissed half his party's parliamentary deputies for this election, aiming to rejuvenate the party as he sought a third term in power. Erdoğan nominated only 146 deputies out of the 333 parliamentary seats for the ruling Justice & Development party to stand again in this election. Of the AKP's 550 candidates, 514 had university degrees. There were also 11 people with disabilities on the list. Important figures from the party kept their positions with many ministers moved to the coastal regions where the party previously attracted fewer votes.

Following a rally by Erdoğan in Kastamonu on 4 May, assailants ambushed a police convoy killing one person and wounding another. The Kurdistan Workers Party claimed responsibility for the attack after Erdoğan accused "separatists" at another rally for the attack.

Republican People's Party

The 2011 general election was the first general election in which Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu participated as the leader of Republican People's Party (CHP). The former CHP leader Deniz Baykal resigned from his post in May 2010 and left the CHP with 26% of the votes, according to opinion polls. Kılıçdaroğlu announced that he would resign from his post if he was not successful in the 2011 elections. He did not provide details as to what his criteria for success were. Over 3,500 people applied to run for the main opposition party in the June elections. Male candidates paid 3,000 Turkish Liras to submit an application; female candidates paid 2,000 while those with disabilities paid 500 liras. Among the candidates were former CHP leader Deniz Baykal and arrested Ergenekon suspects such as Mustafa Balbay and Mehmet Haberal.

The party held primary elections in 29 provinces. Making a clean break with the past, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu left his mark on the Republican People's Party's 435-candidate list, leaving off 78 current deputies as he sought to redefine and reposition the main opposition. The CHP's candidate list also included 11 politicians who were formerly part of center-right parties, such as the Motherland Party, the True Path Party and the Turkey Party. Center-right voters gravitated toward the AKP when these other parties virtually collapsed after the 2002 elections. Key party figures that did not make it on to the list, criticised the CHP for making "a shift in axis."

Polls

In the local elections of 2009, the ruling AKP received 39% of the votes. The second party CHP received 23% of the votes, and the third party MHP received 16% of the votes. In the run up to the general election of 2011, the polling organisations noted a growth in the popularity of the AKP. Polling organisations showed a rate between 42% and 51%. For CHP, the numbers varied between 25% and 30%. MHP was mostly shown between 10% and 14%

Nationwide results

The provisional election results were announced at 18:30 (UTC+2) on June 12, 2011. The official election results will be announced when all votes are counted.