National Election

Last Sunday's election in Turkey was surprising. (Although pre-election polls exist, they were all over the place.) My friends are trying to put on a good face, but they are pretty devastated. The AKP (the conservative religious party), which has had power for the last four years, gained more power, over 50% of the parliament now. The extreme nationalist party also picked up seats, something a bit scary. My Anatolian City, for example, broke down this way: 3 parliament members from the AK party, 2 for the liberal democrats, and 1 from the nationalists.
Some things my friends are happy about:
• 85% of all eligible voters participated, in the middle of vacation month (which means Turks had to return from the seaside just to vote as there are no mail-in ballots).
• The elections were deemed fair and there was no violence.
• The Western press is happy because re-electing the party currently in power, which is amenable to both European and American requests, means stability for Turkey.
• The ineffective leader of the liberal democrats will hopefully be sacked.
Some things my friends are worried about:
• The unknown-but-feared agenda of the AK party will be harder to resist.
• The country will be further divided