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Ruling Turkish AK Party wins a third term with 50 per cent of vote
TURKISH Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party won a parliamentary election with nearly 50 per cent of the vote yesterday, but failed to win enough seats to call a referendum on a planned new constitution.
With 97 per cent of the vote counted, results showed the AK Party winning 50.3 per cent of the vote, or 326 seats in the 550-seat assembly, below the 330 needed to call a referendum on a planned new constitution.
Support for the second-largest Republican People’s Party (CHP) was put at 25.9 per cent, or 135 seats.
A Muslim democracy and candidate for the EU, Turkey has become an economic powerhouse and influential player on the global stage since Erdogan’s party first swept to power in 2002.