The AKP Landslide

Anadolu News Agency

I never claim to be an expert on Turkey, especially Turkish politics. I chose not to make any predictions here on the November 1 elections, mostly because I believe it's safer to save your predictions until the results are known. The AKP victory was not unexpected, but the scope of the landslide was greater than many had forecast, reversing the setbacks suffered in the June elections and the stalemated situation in attempts to form a coalition that followed. With the AKP again enjoying a majority, the proposed constitutional changes favored by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan now may well pass, further strengthening Presidential power. In June many read the setbacks as a defeat for Erdoğan, and so this will be seen as a victory for him as well, though technically the President is above Party and no longer a member of the AKP, and the victory is really that pf Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. The dynamics between Davutoğlu and Erdoğan are a subject of considerable discussion and will be worth watching.