2011 Turkish general election
General elections were held in Turkey on 12 June 2011 to elect the 550 members of Grand National Assembly. In accordance to the result of the constitutional referendum held in 2007, the elections were held four years after the previous elections in 2007 instead of five.
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All 550 seats in the Grand National Assembly 276 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 83.16% (1.09 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Most voted-for party by provinces (top) and districts (bottom) AKP CHP MHP Independent Labour, Democracy and Freedom Bloc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turkey portal |
The result was a third consecutive victory for the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP), with its leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan being re-elected as Prime Minister for a third term with 49.8% of the vote and 327 MPs. This represented an increase of 3.2% since the 2007 general election and an 11.4% rise since the 2009 local elections. The victory was attributed to the strong sustained economic recovery after the 2008 global financial crisis as well as the completion of several projects such as the İzmir commuter railway, inter-city high speed rail lines and airports in Amasya, Gökçeada and Gazipaşa (Antalya).
The Republican People's Party (CHP) also saw an increase in its popular vote share, receiving 26.0% and winning 135 seats. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) received 13.0% and won 53 seats, representing a slight loss of support since 2007. The elections were the first to be contested by the CHP's new leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who replaced Deniz Baykal in 2010.
The elections were marred by violence originating mainly from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is recognised as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.