Turkish Elections of June 12, 2011: Now What?

Results from the June 12 2011 election indicated that Turkey maintained a moderate pluralist party system in structure in the parliament, consisting of the same four parties that were previously serving. But it looked as if Turkey was gearing up to become another example of predominant party system soon. Short of making a constitution that was considered as politically, legally, and morally binding for the political elites of Turkey, it would be difficult to assume that Turkish democracy was fully consolidated. The stage seemed to be set for a start of negotiations for a civilian-made democratic constitution in Turkey. The governing AKP needed the support of at least five more deputies from other parliamentary groups. The Turkish political elites were good at confronting and fighting each other, but they did not seem to be as capable or intent upon working together as government and opposition. The summer months in 2011 might produce a period of cooling off for the political elites and for the Republican People’s Party and Nationalist Action Party to settle their intra-party accounts before October 2011.