Turkish general election, 2002

Turkish general election, 2002

3 November 2002

Total of 550 seats of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey 276 seats were needed for a majority Turnout 79.14%   First party Second party   Leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Deniz Baykal Party AKP CHP Leader since 14 August 2001 30 September 2000 Leader's seat Siirt (2003 by-election) Antalya Last election New party 0 seats, 8.71% Seats won 363 178 Seat change 363 178 Popular vote 10,808,229 6,113,352 Percentage 34.28% 19.38% Swing 34.28% 10.68%

Prime Minister before election Bülent Ecevit Democratic Left Elected Prime Minister Abdullah Gül AKP

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The 15th Turkish general election was held on 3 November 2002 following the collapse of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition led by Bülent Ecevit. It was the 15th general election to be held in Turkey. All 550 members of the Grand National Assembly were up for election.

The election was held during an ongoing economic crisis which followed the 2001 financial crash, which resulted in a deep resentment of coalition governments which had governed the country since the 1980 military coup. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), which had only been formed in 2001 by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, won the election with nearly two-thirds of the seats. The protest vote was such that every sitting party previously represented in parliament was ejected, with the AKP winning 363 seats with just 34.3% of the vote. The only other party which passed the 10% threshold to gain representation was the Republican People's Party, which came second with 19.38% of the vote and 178 seats. The election produced Turkey's first single party government since 1987 and the country's first two-party parliament since 1960.

The moderate Islamism advocated by the AKP was at odds with the secular establishment of the Republic of Turkey. While serving as the Mayor of Istanbul, Erdoğan was sentenced to a 10 month prison term in 1998 for reciting a poem in Siirt which incited racial intolerance. This barred him from initially seeking a seat in parliament, meaning that the AKP's co-founder Abdullah Gül became Prime Minister following their election victory. With the help of the CHP, the government overturned Erdoğan's political ban in 2003, after which he was able to seek a seat in a controversial by-election in the Province of Siirt. Erdoğan became Prime Minister in March 2003, with Abdullah Gül concurrently assuming the role of Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

Results

Voting ended in the country's 32 eastern provinces at 3pm, having begun an hour earlier in morning, and in the remaining 49 provinces at 4pm. Counting began immediately afterwards.

A press black-out was placed on all results by the electoral authority so that it could ensure all ballot boxes were secure, but even when it became clear that every box in the country had been sealed, the authority refused to sway from its original deadline of 9pm. With early results being already announced by foreign media outlets, Turkish television switched to a live shot of the Electoral Authority headquarters until an announcement was made at 7.30pm revoking the black-out.

Total votes and seats for each party

Interpretation

The election was widely interpreted as a protest vote against the corruption-riddled traditional forces of Turkish politics. It reflected the soaring popularity of the AKP, established barely a year before, and prompted a number of established party leaders to resign.

Effects

AKP formed the first single-party government.

New government

Although the AKP's victory was indisputable, Erdoğan's appointment as prime minister was delayed owing to his previous criminal conviction, which prevented him from standing for parliament. Another prominent party member, Abdullah Gül, became prime minister and remained in the position until a constitutional amendment could be pushed through to allow Erdoğan to stand for a freshly vacant seat in a March 2003 by-election.

Party resignations

The result prompted the near-immediate resignations of several prominent figures in Turkish politics:

• Mesut Yılmaz, former prime minister and leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP). He was succeeded by Ali Talip Özdemir
• Tansu Çiller, former prime minister and leader of the True Path Party (DYP). Çiller was succeeded by her former interior minister, Mehmet Ağar.
• Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and senior coalition partner in the outgoing government. His resignation was not accepted by his party's central committee, and he remained leader.

Outgoing prime minister Bülent Ecevit was widely expected to resign as leader of his Democratic Left party, but did not end up leaving until a party conference in 2004.

See also

• Yumak and Sadak v. Turkey

Elections and referendums in Turkey Presidential elections 2014 General elections 1923 1927 1931 1935 1939 1943 1946 1950 1954 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2002 2007 2011 2015 Local elections 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1955 1963 1968 1973 1977 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Senate elections 1961 1964 1966 1968 1973 1975 1977 1979 Referendums 1961 1982 1987 1988 2007 2010 By-elections 1986 2003 See also: Elections in the Ottoman Empire

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan AKP party leader General election, 2002 Local elections, 2004 Constitutional referendum, 2007 Local elections, 2009 Constitutional referendum, 2010 General election, 2011 Prime Minister Cabinet Erdoğan I Cabinet Erdoğan II Cabinet Erdoğan III Foreign policy Prime ministerial trips Civil–military relations Democratic initiative Solution process President Presidential election, 2014 presidential campaign Family Emine Erdoğan (wife) Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan (son) Ahmet Burak Erdoğan (son) Sümeyye Erdoğan (daughter) Esra Erdoğan (daughter) See also Conservative democracy Early life and career Electoral history Mayor of Istanbul, 1994 Neo-Ottomanism Turkish model 2013–14 protests in Turkey 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey 2023 vision Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Category:Recep Tayyip Erdoğan