TURKEY: End of one-party rule for Erdogan’s AKP, Kurds revel

Sunday’s elections in Turkey resulted in a major setback for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an Islamist who had steadily increased his power and was hoping to get a clear mandate to change the system from a parliamentary to a presidential executive.

With his dream turning to a nightmare, Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) garnered about 41% of the votes and fell short of a clear majority in the 550-seat assembly.
Failure to form a new administration, as is probably the case with the three other opposition parties saying they ruled out joining a AK-led coalition, Turkey could be headed to new elections within 45 days, with the present momentum leading to a bigger vote for smaller parties.
Analysts suggested Sunday’s election result was a significant victory to the cadre of Kurds, liberals and secular Turks who opposed Erdogan’s aim of passing constitutional changes that would have greatly boosted the powers of his office.
“Looks like a significant political change in Turkey: end of one-party AKP rule, a big voice for HDP and Kurds that will resonate far and wide,” reported BBC correspondent Mark Lowen.
He added that the Turkish lira was absolutely plummeting to 2.8 to the dollar, while Turkey's economy holds its breath.
The country’s largest minority celebrated the unprecedented success of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) with fireworks and gunfire in Kurdish-dominated Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey as the pro-Kurdish movement and its charismatic leader Selahattin Demirtas easily passed the 10% threshold needed to win seats in parliament, with the HDP’s 13% vote share guaranteeing them 79 MPs.