As expected, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won Turkey’s first direct presidential election. According to the Central Election Committee, the incumbent head of government (since 2003) won 52 percent of votes.
Emre KIZILKAYA, managing editor, Hurriyet Daily News: “Erdogan promises a new Turkey, but this is easier said than done. Here the key factor is that he will have to make amendments to the Constitution; he couldn’t do so as prime minister, even an almost omnipotent one. How is he going to accomplish this in a system in which the head of state actually comes second after the head of government in terms of powers? Moreover, he will have to confront the ruling party that will be harder to keep under control.
“The voters’ mandate he received last night isn’t enough to have the Constitution amended single-handedly; he will need support from the Kurds. That was why he made it clear that he would pursue the Kurdish peace process, which h plans to use as a bargaining chip in amending the Constitution to change the current form of government to a full-fledged presidential system.
“In actuality, most Turks did not cast their ballots for Erdogan, considering the number of people who did not go to the polling stations. Half of Turkey likes Erdogan’s demeanor, including his authoritarian and antisecular practices. On the other hand, he wasn’t as bad as expected by the secularists in many respects, considering that he did interfere in private lives, but did not impose Sharia or something like that…
“Turkey is a deep-rooted democracy. Its constitutional movement began at the start of the 19th century. Even the sultans did not rule this country single-handedly. Assuming that President Erdogan will succeed in amending the Constitution, he will find it hard to keep the general public under control. The presidential election on Sunday showed two things: (1) Erdogan didn’t increase his electorate; (2) the opposition’s electorate is markedly flexible and some of them can easily change sides.
“On the other hand, the foreign political course isn’t likely to change. In fact, with Davutoglu as a possible head of government, his main policy will become even more emphatic. His policy toward Russia, the EU, and Ukraine is likely to persist.”
