July 04, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) gained public support last month, according to a poll by A&G Research. 43.4 per cent of respondents would vote for the AKP in the next legislative election, up 3.7 points since May.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) gained public support last month, according to a poll by A&G Research. 43.4 per cent of respondents would vote for the AKP in the next legislative election, up 3.7 points since May.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) is second with 18.1 per cent, followed by the National Action Party (MHP) with 16.8 per cent.

Turkish voters renewed the Great National Assembly in July 2007. Final results gave the AKP 46.6 per cent of the vote and 341 seats in the legislature. Parties require at least 10 per cent of the vote to earn seats under the country’s proportional representation system. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a member of the AKP, has served as prime minister since March 2003.

In March, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, Turkey’s chief prosecutor of the Court of Appeals, filed a lawsuit in the country’s Constitution Court demanding the closure of the AKP for allegedly jeopardizing Turkey’s secularist nature by trying to implement Islamic rule. The case was brought to the Court after lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment to lift a ban on university students wearing the Muslim headscarf, viewed by secularists as a symbol of political Islam.

Erdogan has denied the accusations, saying that his party—which does have Islamist roots—is not trying to instate Islamic rule in the country. The AKP submitted its defence to the court on Apr. 30.

On Jun. 5, the Constitutional Court ruled against the government’s proposed constitutional amendment to allow the use of the Muslim headscarf in universities. AKP legislators had tried to allow the garments as a matter of personal and religious freedom, but the court considered this to be against the country’s secularist mandate.

On Jul. 1, 20 people—including two retired generals—were arrested in Turkey in connection with an alleged plot to oust Erdogan’s government. All the suspects are purported members of the Ergenekon group, an ultra-nationalist organization. Government critics said the arrests were politically-motivated. Erdogan dismissed the allegations.

Gen Ilker Basbug, a senior general in the armed forces, declared: "Turkey is passing through difficult days. We all have to be acting with more common sense, more carefully and more responsibly."

Polling Data

What party would you support in the next parliamentary election?

	Jun. 2008	May 2008
Justice and Development Party (AKP)	43.4%	39.7%
Republican People’s Party (CHP)	18.1%	19.4%
National Action Party (MHP)	16.8%	17.1%

Source: A&G Research
Methodology: Interviews with 2,403 Turk adults in 33 provinces, conducted on Jun. 14 and Jun. 15, 2008. No margin of error was provided.