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What will the split among nationalists result in for Turkey?

Türkiye Materials 23 October 2015 22:00 (UTC +04:00)
More than a week is left before the re-run parliamentary election in Turkey.
What will the split among nationalists result in for Turkey?

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 23

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

More than a week is left before the re-run parliamentary election in Turkey. Almost all political parties that will participate in the election actively conducted an electoral campaign. But apparently, as opposed to the previous election, the main competition will be observed among three parties during the election to be held on Nov. 1.

First of all, there is the Justice and Development Party that does not hide its ambitions to form the government on its own.

The Republican People's Party will be the main competitor of the Justice and Development Party as opposed to the previous election.

As for the Democratic Peoples Party, which is associated with so many scandals, there is no doubt that this party will lose votes. And there are a number of reasons, including the recent events in the southeast of the country.

According to the Turkish authorities, the Democratic Peoples Party was to blame for the aggravation of the situation in the southeast of the country. According to the authorities, it carries out a wrong policy and is supported by the Western community.

The southeastern provinces of Turkey have been the most economically backward regions for many years. After the "democratic solution to the Kurdish problem", huge investments were made in these regions. In particular, the worsening situation in the southeastern harms the local population, mostly ethnic Kurds who voted for the Democratic Peoples Party.

As for the National Movement Party, this party suffered great losses after the political election on June 7, 2015.

This is primarily connected with the fact that the National Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli missed a historic chance, by giving up a coalition with the Justice and Development Party. As a result, the National Movement Party is currently on the verge of a split.

The appointment of Togrul Turkesh from the National Movement Party for the post of Turkish Deputy Prime Minister was a strong blow to the nationalist movement.

While Bahceli has decided to remain in opposition, Turkes gave the nationalist movement an opportunity to be represented in the transitional government.

The MHP, in addition to the lack of far-sighted policy, has also another problem associated with the personality of Bahceli, who had lost his authority.

On Oct. 22, one of the founders of the MHP, Naci Meric resigned. He explained it by the fact that Bahceli, rejecting a coalition with the Justice and Development Party (AKP), made a big mistake.

Bahceli has no political vision, and he can no longer lead the party, according to Meric.

It is possible that this will be the beginning of a serious split in the ranks of the nationalist party.

With this in mind, one can say that the majority of Turkish nationalists will vote for the AKP at the parliamentary election to be held Nov. 1, since the AKP and the MHP parties have much in common.

The MHP party, despite the criticism of the AKP, after all, in contrast to the CHP, has always pursued a loyal policy in relation to the authorities. Incidentally, it is interesting that in the midst of the events in Taksim Square in 2013, supporters of the party, as opposed to supporters of the CHP and the HDP parties, did not take part in mass protests.

The main differences between the MHP and the AKP are linked with the question of a democratic solution of the Kurdish problem. It is namely the Kurdish problem that cornered the formation of the ideal coalition.

But the split in the ranks of the MHP is not the main reason that most part of its members will vote for the AKP. The main reason is the desire to prevent the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) from overcoming the 10-percent threshold, and thus prevent it from entering the parliament.

In order to be represented in the Turkish parliament, political parties must gain more than 10 percent of the vote.

Edited by CN

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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu

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