Mavi Boncuk |
AN ALEVI TIDE HEADED FOR TURKEY'S PARLIAMENT
PolicyWatch 2418 | May 6, 2015 | By Soner Cagaptay
Read this article on website: http://washin.st/1cnEAYv
Soner Cagaptay is the Beyer Family Fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, and author of "The Rise of Turkey: The Twenty-First Century's First Muslim Power" (http://washin.st/ZI45JV), named by the Foreign Policy Association as one of the ten most important books of 2014.
The unprecedented influx of Alevi deputies could form a significant anti-AKP bloc in the next legislature, but this development could also hurt the opposition CHP if Alevi deputies act in a sectarian manner.
One of the key dynamics emerging in the buildup to Turkey's June 7 election is the anticipated record number of Alevis set to enter parliament, mostly from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). For the first time, the percentage of Alevis in the legislature could roughly represent their percentage of the total population. This development will have implications for Turkish politics, as leftist and liberally disposed Alevis vehemently oppose the ultraconservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and could form an informal anti-AKP bloc in the parliament. For its part, the AKP could respond by painting the CHP as an Alevi party, suggesting that Sunnis vote AKP and Alevis vote CHP. Such a tactic could marginalize the CHP and further boost the ruling party's power.
Read more...
No comments:
Post a Comment