There was a high turnout for the parliamentary elections in Turkey on Sunday.

Some 8680 candidates vied for the 550 seats in the country’s national parliament. Preliminary results show that the Justice and Development (AK) Party, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is winning a slim majority. The elections are important because if any party gains two thirds of the legislature’s seats, it will be able to form the future government and choose the next president. Opinion polls show that the AK Party will win 40 percent of the seats (more than 300), the Republican People’s Party, which is led by Deniz Baykal, 100 seats, Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party, which is led by Devlet Bahceli, 70 seats, and other parties and individuals will take 80 seats. The high turnout proves that the Turks are aware of the significance of the election. Turkey has experienced many changes in various historical periods, and each has influenced political developments in the region and the world. From the 14th century to the early 20th century, Turkey’s Ottoman Empire ruled over a great area in the Middle East, North Africa, and even parts of Europe. The influence of the 600-year-old Islamic government on the culture and societies of Islamic countries that were ruled by the Ottomans can still be felt. During World War I, some Arab Middle Eastern countries tried to liberate themselves from Ottoman rule with the help of the British Empire, and this was achieved in 1916 with the withdrawal of the Ottomans from North Africa and the Middle East. In 1923, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk initiated a religious, cultural, social, and political movement and established a secular political system which was supported by the army. Yet, despite the efforts of Turkey’s politicians to alter the country’s cultural and social structure, the people remained attached to their religion. After the incidents that took place from the 1950s to the 1980s, when Turkey witnessed important political events such as assassinations and various coups, Turkish politicians became divided into two groups, Islamists and secularists. Early in the third millennium, the Islamists managed to win the public’s trust through adopting moderate Islamic approaches, and eventually the younger generation of Islamists that separated from the Islamic Welfare Party took power. Over the past five years, Justice and Development Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is a moderate politician, has taken one step toward the Islamic world and one step toward the West and succeeded in maintaining a balance between the East and the West, which was in Turkey’s best interests. The election of Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu as the secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference was in fact a reward that the Islamic world granted Erdogan’s government. During its term in office, the Erdogan government was also able to bring Turkey closer to the European Union. However, the Turkish prime minister did not agree to relinquish Turkey’s national values to enter the EU. Sunday’s parliamentary election will usher in an important new era in Turkey. If the Justice and Development Party wins two thirds of the seats in the election, it can form the government now and choose the future president next September, but then it will have many difficult tasks ahead. The situation of the Kurds of Turkey, who account for over 20 percent of the population, efforts to join the European Union, the interaction between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan, the calls to revise the constitution, and the need to regulate relations with the East and the West are some of the difficult issues that the country’s next government and president will have to deal with