Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 09/2008

PolicyWatch #1257: Upcoming Turkish Elections: Issues and Winners

Soner Cagaptay

July 2007

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Abstract

On June 19, the Turkish Supreme Elections Board, an independent body that monitors the elections process, finalized the candidate lists for the July 22 early parliamentary polls. The outcome at the polls should be easier to estimate now that the electorate can judge the parties as well as their candidates. Will the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) win? How will the other major parties fare? And what issues will dominate, among them the Constitutional Court's decision yesterday to overturn President Ahmet Sezer's veto of the AKP's proposal for direct presidential elections?