'The man did win!'

Muharrem İnce's words about President Erdoğan's victory in the presidential elections will never be forgotten in the history of modern Turkish politics



The title is not mine. The statement belongs to presidential candidate Muharrem İnce who came in second in Turkey's June 24 vote. After noting that the disparity of 10 million votes ended all debate about the legitimacy of the elections, İnce summarized the results with these four effective words.

Without a doubt, the Turkish electorate conveyed their message loud and clear.

Let's make some predictions about the possible post-election developments after looking at the statuses of the parties and candidates.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been ruling the country for 16 years, was re-elected with 52.6 percent of the vote. Having outperformed their nearest rival with more than 10 million votes, Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) received 42.4 percent of the vote. According to these results, the AK Party secured 293 seats in the 600-member Parliament.

Muharrem İnce, the candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), received 30.6 percent of the vote, lagging behind his rival by 22 points. However, İnce gained success by exceeding the votes for his party, which secured 22.5 percent of the vote and 146 seats in Parliament. This outcome might even pave the way for İnce to replace current CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as it seems steps have already been taken to place İnce at the party's helm.

Other parties that will have a presence in Parliament in the new period are: The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the legal wing of the separatist PKK terrorist organization, which managed to get 67 deputies in Parliament; the Good Party (İP) will have 44 deputies; and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who entered the elections under an alliance with the AK Party, will get 50.

According to these results, Turkey has entered a stable period and uncertainty has completely disappeared. Erdoğan, who will be in a stronger position in the new system, will also receive strong support from Parliament. We can expect this clear picture to have positive results in many areas, especially in the economy, foreign policy, democratization and reforms.

However, it is not only Turkish politicians who need to learn lessons from these elections and understand the messages put forth by the electorate.

The governments of some European countries and international media should also study the results carefully. This is because, even before the elections, some European politicians violated diplomatic conventions and provided open support for the opposition. Media outlets such as the BBC, CNN, Euro News, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg and The Economist presented unverified, sometimes even falsified news to manipulate electorate reflexes. As a result, they may have damaged their brands for good.

However, the Turkish electorate does not like interference in their business. So, in the polls, they steered the country toward the best path for the country's future, ignoring the irrelevant opines of outsiders.One thing is for sure, the people of Turkey will be able to share in the success of "the man who did win."