Erdogan’s victory: is it really a surprise?

It was expected that Erdogan get weakened after this election. A two-round election was planned. It was announced that he would lose his parliamentary majority… It was not the case!

On Sunday 24 of June, Recep Tayyip Erdogan obtained 52.59% of the votes, proving that the polls were wrong. Moreover, the coalition between the AKP, his party, and the MHP (far-right nationalist party) has almost given him an absolute majority.

On the other hand, how can we be surprised by this victory when we know the degree of repression that has raged in Turkey for several years, especially since the failed coup in 2016? When Selahattin Demirtas, the Kurdish leader, campaigned from prison? When many journalists and opponents are still in jail?

Even if electoral fraud has not been massive, even if participation has almost reached 90%, what kind of democracy are we talking about when power is exercised with such authoritarianism? Erdogan has 5 more years to answer us…

To see our previous weekly editorials on international news, take a look here!