TEHRAN – A Turkish MP from the opposition CHP party believes that President Tayyip Erdogan suffered a “major defeat” as the ruling AK Party failed to win the majority in the Sunday election to allow him to change the constitution and create a more powerful presidency.

“The unofficial election results signify a major defeat for President Erdogan,” Osman Faruk Logoglu tells the Tehran Times.

The AKP secured 41% of the votes, a sharp drop from 2011, and must form a coalition or face entering a minority government.

Erdogan said the inconclusive election result means no party can govern alone.

Logoglu says if his party be a member of the coalition, then there will be “radical changes” in Turkey’s foreign policy in favor of “peace” and “security”.

Following is the text of the interview:

Q: The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) gained the 10 percent threshold to enter the Turkish parliament and now the ruling AK Party lacks enough seats to change the constitution and establish a new presidential system. Is this a failure for Erdogan?

A: The unofficial election results signify a major defeat for President Erdogan. Violating the Constitution and political ethics, using all the facilities of the state, he campaigned for the AKP and for a presidential system of government in Turkey. He still lost. AKP’s support dropped from about 50% to about 40%, meaning 20% of AKP supporters did not vote for him this time. With this parliamentary arithmetic, there is no way for President Erdogan to change the regime into a presidential system.

Q: How would be the interaction of the ruling government with the Kurdish issue in view of the number of parliamentary seats that the HDP have won?

A: HDP is the winner of the 2015 elections. Having won 12% of the votes, they will have close to 80 seats in the parliament. The way the Kurdish issue will be handled will naturally depend on the composition of a new government. As parliamentary arithmetic does not allow the formation of a majority government, there is the prospect of a coalition government. The Kurdish issue will probably be put in the back burner for the time being until there is a new government in place.

Q: Can the seats won by the Peoples’ Democratic Party influence Erdogan’s regional foreign policy?

A: Again whatever changes might take place in Turkey’s regional policies will depend on whether there is a coalition government and who the partners are. If CHP is a member of the coalition, then there will be radical changes in Turkey’s foreign policy in favor of peace, security, prosperity and good neighborly relations in our region.

Q: Why did Erdogan and his supporters fail to gain overwhelming majority to change the parliamentary and presidential systems?

A: People got tired of AKP, in power now for more than 12 years. High unemployment, low wages and meager pensions, corruption, restrictions of basic freedoms, violations of human rights, political control of the judiciary, control of the media, dangerous foreign policy choices, all these factors played a role in AKP’s loss of support. Of course, HDP’s electoral victory, combined with the opposition of CHP and MHP to the presidential system effectively closes the book on regime change.


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High unemployment, low wages and meager pensions, corruption, restrictions of basic freedoms, violations of human rights, political control of the judiciary, control of the media, dangerous foreign policy choices, all these factors played a role in AKP’s loss of support.