Turkey’s parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24 was marked with “engineering calculations” based on “electoral arithmetic” which was also a part of the propaganda towards the masses. The results show that the engineering work underestimated the fundamental ideological tendencies, and that the “inner-right-wing” movements and shifts were not evaluated correctly. For instance, despite the high rate reelected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received in the previous presidential election, it is seen that his Justice and Development Party (AKP) has lost a serious amount of votes in several cities where the AKP is considered “strong”, such as Kayseri and Konya, and that there is also a loss of votes in metropolises, which should be evaluated separately.
A closer look at the losses, however, shows that the voters cannot be said to have shifted far away from the ideological-political line of the AKP – rather, the losses can be considered as a result of the weariness of the AKP and their staff.
The AKP received less votes than they had at the election on November 1, 2015. Their rate at the previous election was 49,5%, and it has dropped to 42,5%, corresponding to 290 deputies in the parliament.
The lost votes of the AKP caused an increase of the ultra-nationalist, fascist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in some cities. In some other cities, on the other hand, both parties have lost votes in several rates, and those votes have gone to the newly founded nationalist Good (İyi) Parti. The pro-Kurdish parliamentary opposition Democratic People’s Party (HDP) has also had a loss of votes in some cities where Kurdish people compose the majority in population, which is seen to be good for the AKP.
The AKP has lost votes in the cities as follows:
İSTANBUL
İstanbul is a city where the AKP had the most serious loss of votes. However, it is also remarkable that the loss was no good for the MHP, either – the MHP votes actually have dropped 0,2% in İstanbul. The Good Party has received 8% in this city.
November 1: 48,92%
June 24: 42,7%
ANKARA
Just like in İstanbul, the loss of the AKP was not of use for the MHP. The MHP has had 1% less votes in this city compared to November 1, and the Good Party had 12%.
November 1: 48,98%
June 24: 40,4%
İZMİR
While the AKP has had a drop of 3 points in İzmir, the MHP’s loss was 6%. The Good Party has received 10,9% of the votes in this city.
November 1: 31,70%
June 24: 28,6%
ADANA
The AKP had a 3-percent loss again, and MHP has lost 8 points flat. The Good Party has received 12,2% in Adana.
November 1: 37,31%
June 24: 34,6%
BURSA
The AKP’s votes in Bursa have decreased 8%, while the MHP has had a loss of 2%. The Good Party has had 12%.
November 1: 54,01%
June 24: 46,2%
HATAY
The AKP has had a 7-percent decrease in Hatay, but the MHP’s votes have increased 2%. The Good Party has received only 6,5% in this city.
November 1: 43,53%
June 24: 36,2%
KAYSERİ
The AKP had a reduction of 15% in Kayseri, and the MHP has had a 3-percent increase. The Good Party has received 11% here.
November 1: 65,3%
June 24: 50,6%
KONYA
While the AKP has had a great loss in Konya, the MHP’s votes have increased 4%. The Good Party has received 9% from Konya.
November 1: 73,94%
June 24: 59,4%
SİVAS
The AKP has had another huge loss of votes in Sivas, but the MHP’s rate of votes have increased 8%. The Good Party’s votes have remained at 6,8%.
November 1: 68,35%
June 24: 54,7%
ŞANLIURFA
The AKP has lost 10% of its votes in Şanlıurfa, where the MHP’s votes have increased nearly 7%. The Good Party has received only 2% of the votes in the city.
November 1: 64,33%
June 24: 54,7%
DİYARBAKIR
Though the AKP has lost only 1% of its votes in Diyarbakır, it has increased its votes in other cities where the HDP has lost votes.
November 1: 22,31%
June 24: 21,4%
HAKKARİ
The HDP has lost 11% of its votes in Hakkari, where the AKP has increased its votes.
November 1: 13,7%
June 24: 20%
ŞIRNAK
This is another city where the HDP has lost votes, and the AKP has increased.
November 1: 12,33%
June 24: 18,1%
MARDİN
The HDP has lost 8% here, and the AKP has received more votes than they had in the previous elections.
November 1: 29,27%
June 24: 30,4%
VAN
This is yet another city where the HDP has lost (5% of) votes, and the AKP has had more.
November 1: 30,7%
June 24: 31,7%
