Title

Turkey: What Can We Expect After the November 3 Election?

Thursday, November 14, 2002
10:00am
2200 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
United States
Official Transcript: 
Moderator(s): 
Name: 
Donald Kursch
Title Text: 
Senior Advisor
Body: 
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Witnesses: 
Name: 
Abdullah Akyuz
Title: 
President
Body: 
Turkish Industrialist and Businessmen's Association
Name: 
Sanar Yurdatapan
Title: 
Activist
Body: 
Musician and Freedom of Expression
Name: 
Jonathan Sugden
Title: 
Turkey Researcher
Body: 
Human Rights Watch

This briefing addressed the November 3 elections, which were held during a rather turbulent time in Turkey. Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former mayor of Istanbul, won an unprecedented 34.27 percent of the votes in Turkey’s legislative election while the Republican People’s Party (CHP), led by Deniz Baykal, received 19.39 percent of the votes and won 178 seats in the next Parliament.

Witnesses testifying at this briefing – including Abdullah Akyuz, President of the Turkish Industrialist’s and Businessmen’s Association, U.S. Representative Office; Sanar Yurdatapan, Musician and Freedom of Expression Advocate; and Jonathan Sugden, Researcher for Turkey with Human Rights Watch – addressed the massive recession face by Turkey and the concern of another war with Iraq. The effect, if any, on the rise of Islamist parties in Turkish politics is yet another concern. All of this following the recent snub by the European Union regarding Turkish accession, and increasingly bleak prospects for a resolution of the Cyprus impasse.

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