1.
Turkish general election, 1977
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General elections were held in Turkey on 5 June 1977. Elections took place in the middle of a race between the right wing party AP and the left wing party CHP. With the charismatic leadership of Bülent Ecevit, CHP managed to beat one of the figures of the conservative politics of Turkey. Finally, CHP couldnt gain a vote of confidence and they would have to wait until 1978 to gain support from some independents and small parties to become the head of the government. CHP couldnt keep power for long and soon government control passed on to AP even as the rumblings of the coup were beginning to be felt
2.
Grand National Assembly of Turkey
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The Grand National Assembly of Turkey, usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament, is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence. The parliament was fundamental in the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey has had a history of parliamentary government before the establishment of the current national parliament. There were two parliamentary governments during the Ottoman period in what is now Turkey, the First Constitutional Era lasted for only two years, elections being held only twice. The Second Constitutional Era is considered to have begun on 23 July 1908, freedom to hold meetings and establish political parties was recognized, and the government was held responsible to the assembly, not to the sultan. During the two eras of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman parliament was called the General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire and was bicameral. The upper house was the Senate of the Ottoman Empire, the members of which were selected by the sultan, the lower chamber of the General Assembly was the Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire, the members of which were elected by the general public. After World War I, the victorious Allied Powers sought the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire through the Treaty of Sèvres, the political existence of the Turkish nation was to be completely eliminated under these plans, except for a small region. Nationalist Turkish sentiment rose in the Anatolian peninsula, engendering the establishment of the Turkish national movement, the political developments during this period have made a lasting impact which continues to affect the character of the Turkish nation. The Sultanate was abolished by the newly founded parliament in 1922 and he also stated that the members of the dispersed Ottoman Chamber of Deputies could also participate in the assembly in Ankara, to increase the representative power of the parliament. These elections were held as planned, in the style of the elections of the preceding Chamber of Deputies and this Grand National Assembly, established on national sovereignty, held its inaugural session on 23 April 1920. From this date until the end of the Turkish War of Independence in 1923, the Liberal Party was dissolved on 17 November 1930 and no further attempt at a multiparty democracy was made until 1945. The multi-party period in Turkey was resumed by the founding of the National Development Party, by Nuri Demirağ, under the constitution of 1961, the Grand National Assembly was a bicameral parliament with over 600 members, the newly established upper house being the Senate of the Republic. Following the 1980 military coup, the Senate was dissolved and the Turkish parliament again became unicameral under the current constitution approved in a referendum in 1982. To avoid a hung parliament and its political fragmentation, a party must win at least 10% of the national vote to qualify for representation in the parliament. As a result of this threshold, only two won seats in the legislature after the 2002 elections and three in 2007. The 2002 elections saw every party represented in the previous parliament ejected from the chamber and this rather high threshold has been internationally criticised, but a complaint with the European Court for Human Rights was turned down
3.
Republican People's Party (Turkey)
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The Republican Peoples Party is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of the Republic of Turkey and is currently the opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican Peoples Party describes itself as a modern social-democratic party, also, the party is cited as the founding party of modern Turkey. The political party was established during the Congress of Sivas in 1919 as a union of resistance groups against the invasion of Anatolia, the union represented Turkish people as a unified front during the Turkish War of Independence. On 9 September 1923, the Peoples Party officially declared itself as an organization and on October 29,1923. On 10 November 1924, the Peoples Party renamed itself to Republican Peoples Party as Turkey moved into a one-party period, during the one-party period, the CHP became the major political organisation of a one-party state. Both of which, however, were banned within a few months of their establishment by the state for veering too closely to Islamism and this experience was followed by the founding of the National Development Party by Nuri Demirağ in 1945. The current structure of the party was established within the transition to the multi-party period, after World War II, the leader of the CHP İsmet İnönü introduced democratic elections to Turkish society. Due to widespread dissatisfaction with the CHP in the four years after its victory in the first multi-party general election, celâl Bayar then replaced İnönü as President. During the interim multi-party periods in between the military coups of 1960,1971, and 1980, CHP is regarded as being social-democratic, state nationalistic and secular/laicist. The partys logo consists of the Six Arrows, which represent the principles of Kemalism, republicanism, nationalism, statism, populism, laïcité. The CHP, along all other political parties of the time, was closed down for a brief period by the military coup of 1980. An inheritor party which still participates in Turkish democratic life was established in 1984 by the name of the Democratic Left Party, created by the leader of CHP. CHP was finally re-established with its name on 9 September 1992. Nevertheless, the relationship between CHP and some trade unions, business chambers and most non-governmental organisations alienated many voters. The distance between the party administration and many leftist grassroots, especially left oriented Kurdish voters, contributed to the shift away from the political left. CHP urged the Socialist International to accept Republican Turkish Party of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as an observer member, at the 2007 general election CHP ran in alliance with Democratic Left Party. CHP suffered a defeat, getting 7,300,234 votes
4.
Democratic Party (Turkey, 1970)
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Democratic Party was a former political party in Turkey founded on 18 December 1970. It should not be confused with the historical Democrat party or the current Democratic Party in Turkey, the historical Democrat Party which was the ruling party between 1950-1960 was closed by the military rule. In 1961 and 1965 elections most of ex Democratic Party adherents supported Justice Party, after 1965 elections Justice Party came to power. But following 1969 elections in which Justice Party was again successful, the conservative wing which had the support of former Democrat Party leaders, broke away from the Justice Party and founded the new Democratic Party. DP was founded on 18 December 1970, the former parliament speaker Ferruh Bozbeyli was the chairman. Saadettin Bilgiç as well as the relatives of the former Democrat Party members were among the other important MPs, the main competitors of the party were Justice Party and National Salvation Party. In the 1973 elections, the Democratic Party received 11. 9% of votes, republican Peoples Party was the winner. But CHP needed coalition partners to form the government, DP refused to form the coalition with CHP. Later in 1975 DP refused to participate in another government led by Justice Party. However, after this last decision, the big names in the party returned to Justice Party on 9 March 1975, in the 1977 election, the Democratic Party received only 1. 1% of votes. On 4 May 1980 the party dissolved itself
5.
Prime Minister of Turkey
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The Prime Minister of Turkey is the head of government of Turkey. The prime minister is the leader of a coalition in the Turkish parliament. The current holder of the position is Binali Yıldırım of the Justice and Development Party, in the Ottoman Empire, the prime minister of the Ottoman sultan held the title of Grand Vizier. After the Tanzimat period in the 19th century, the grand viziers came to assume a more like that of the prime ministers of contemporary Western European monarchies. Later, with the Ottoman constitution of 1876, a parliament was established to oversee the prime minister, with the amendments to the constitution during the Second Constitutional Era, the prime minister was made answerable to the parliament rather than the sultan. Finally, with the declaration of republic in 1923, the appointer of the minister became the president
6.
Naim Talu
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Mehmet Naim Talu was a Turkish economist, banker, politician and former Prime Minister of Turkey. Naim Talu was born in Istanbul in 1919 and he was educated at Kabataş Erkek Lisesi. After graduating with a degree in economics from Istanbul University in 1943, he worked for a while in Sümerbank and he transferred to the Central Bank of Turkey in 1946. He became the director of the bank in 1967 after serving one year as deputy. Following the reorganization of the Central Bank in 1970, he was appointed Governor of this institution and he died in Istanbul in 1998. Naim Talu started his career in 1971 by appointment to the ministry of trade in the second Erim cabinet. He kept his post also in the cabinet of Melen until President Cevdet Sunay admitted him to the Senate in 1972 and his caretaker government lasted beyond the general elections in 1973, which did not set a clear majority for any party. With the forming of a cabinet of the Republican People’s Party along with the National Salvation Party under Bülent Ecevit on January 26,1974. His membership in the Senate continued until 1976, Naim Talu was a member of the board of Akbank, one of Turkey’s largest banks, between 1974 and 1976, prior to his appointment as the chairman, which lasted until shortly before his death in 1998. He served the same period as a member of the board of trustees of the Sabancı Foundation VakSA and he was survived by his wife Gevher Talu and his two daughters Tülin Talu and Füsun San
7.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
8.
Politics of Turkey
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Turkeys political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers, legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and its current constitution was adopted on 7 November 1982 after the Turkish constitutional referendum. The function of head of state is performed by the president, a president is elected every five years on the principle of universal suffrage according to the current constitution. The president does not have to be a member of parliament, the current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was Directly elected in 2014. Executive power rests with the president, the minister and the Council of Ministers. Most ministers are members of Parliament, the prime minister is appointed by the president and approved through a vote of confidence in the parliament. The Prime Minister of Turkey is the head of government of Turkey and he is the leader of a political coalition in the Turkish parliament and the leader of the cabinet. The current holder of the position is Binali Yıldırım of the Justice and Development Party, legislative power is invested in the 550-seat Grand National Assembly of Turkey, representing 81 provinces. The members are elected for a term by mitigated proportional representation with an election threshold of 10%. To be represented in Parliament, a party must win at least 10% of the vote in a national parliamentary election. Independent candidates may run, and to be elected, they must only win enough to get one seat, the threshold is set to be reduced. The political system of Turkey is highly centralized, however, as a member state of the Council of Europe, Turkey is under an obligation to implement the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The freedom and independence of the Judicial System is protected within the constitution, there is no organization, person, or institution which can interfere in the running of the courts, and the executive and legislative structures must obey the courts decisions. The courts, which are independent in discharging their duties, must explain each ruling on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution, the laws, jurisprudence, the Judicial system is highly structured. Turkish courts have no jury system, judges render decisions after establishing the facts in each case based on evidence presented by lawyers and prosecutors, for minor civil complaints and offenses, justices of the peace take the case. This court has a single judge and it has jurisdiction over misdemeanors and petty crimes, with penalties ranging from small fines to brief prison sentences. Three-judge courts of first instance have jurisdiction over major civil suits, any conviction in a criminal case can be taken to a court of Appeals for judicial review
9.
Constitution of Turkey
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The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, also known as the Constitution of 1982, is Turkeys fundamental law. It establishes the organization of the government and sets out the principles and rules of the states conduct along with its responsibilities in regards to its citizens. The constitution also establishes the rights and responsibilities of the latter while setting the guidelines for the delegation, the constitution was ratified on 7 November 1982. It replaced the earlier Constitution of 1961, the constitution was amended seventeen times, two of them through a referendum,2007,2010, one of them partly through referendum,1987. Overall,113 of the 177 articles of the Constitution of 1982 were amended, another referendum concerning a new draft constitution that would increase the power of the President and abolish the office of the Prime Minister is scheduled to be held on April 16,2017. The first constitution of the Ottoman Empire was adopted in 1876, the current constitution was ratified by popular referendum during the military junta of 1980-1983. The last significant amendments were made in 2010, a minor amendment to Article 59, on the permissible means for challenging decisions of sport federations relating to administration and discipline of sportive activities, was made in March 2011. The Constitution asserts that Turkey is a secular and democratic, republic that derives its sovereignty from the people, the sovereignty rests with the Turkish Nation, who delegates its exercise to an elected unicameral parliament, the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The Article 4 declares the immovability of the principles of the Republic defined in the first three Articles and bans any proposals for their modification. The preamble also invokes the principles of nationalism, defined as the material and spiritual well-being of the Republic, the basic nature of Turkey is laïcité, social equality, equality before law, the Republican form of government, the indivisibility of the Republic and of the Turkish Nation. Thus, it out to found a unitary nation-state based on the principles of secular democracy. Fundamental Aims and Duties of the State is defined in Article 5, Constitution establishes a separation of powers between the Legislative Power, Executive Power, and Judicial Power of the state. The separation of powers between the legislative and the executive is a one, whereas the one between the executive and the legislative with the judiciary is a strict one. Part Two of the constitution is the bill of rights, borrowing from the French Revolutionary ideals of the nation and the Republic, Article 3 affirms that The Turkish State, with its territory and nation, is an indivisible entity. Article 66 defines a Turkish civic identity, everyone bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship is a Turk. Article 26 establishes freedom of expression and Articles 27 and 28 the freedom of the press, while Articles 33 and 34 affirm the freedom of association, classes are considered irrelevant in legal terms. The Constitution affirms the right of workers to labor unions without obtaining permission and to possess the right to become a member of a union. Articles 53 and 54 affirm the right of workers to collectively and to strike
10.
Secularism in Turkey
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Secularism in Turkey defines the relationship between religion and state in the country of Turkey. Nine years after its introduction, laïcité was explicitly stated in the article of the then Turkish constitution on February 5,1937. The current Constitution of 1982 neither recognizes an official religion nor promotes any and this includes Islam, to which more than 99% of its citizens subscribe. Turkeys laïcité does not call for a separation of religion and the state. Turkeys actions related with religion are carefully analyzed and evaluated through the Presidency of Religious Affairs, the history of secularism in Turkey extends to the Tanzimat reforms of Ottoman Empire. The second peak in secularism occurred during the Second Constitutional Era, the current form was achieved by Atatürks Reforms. The establishing structure of the Ottoman Empire was an Islamic state in which the head of the Ottoman state was the Sultan, the social system was organized around millet. The Ottoman-appointed governor collected taxes and provided security, while the religious or cultural matters were left to the regional communities to decide. On the other hand, the sultans were Muslims and the laws that bound them were based on the Sharia, the Sultan, beginning in 1516, was also a Caliph, the leader of all the Sunni Muslims in the world. By the turn of the 19th century the Ottoman ruling elite recognized the need to restructure the legislative, Sultan Selim III founded the first secular military schools by establishing the new military unit, Nizam-ı Cedid, as early as 1792. However the last century of the Ottoman Empire had many far reaching reforms and these reforms peaked with the tanzimat which was the initial reform era of the Ottoman Empire. The First World War brought about the fall of the Ottoman Empire, therefore, the Republic of Turkey was actually a nation-state built as a result of an empire lost. During the establishment of the Republic, there were two sections of the group at the helm of the discussions for the future. These were the Islamist reformists and Westerners and they shared a similar goal, the modernization of the new state. Many basic goals were common to both groups, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Atatürks achievement was to amplify this common ground and put the country on a fast track of reforms, now known as Atatürks Reforms. Their first act was to give the Turkish nation the right to popular sovereignty via representative democracy. Prior to declaring the new Republic, the Turkish Grand National Assembly abolished the monarchy on November 1,1922. The Turkish Grand National Assembly then moved to replace the extant Islamic law structure with the laws it had passed during the Turkish War of Independence, the modernization of the Law had already begun at the point that the project was undertaken in earnest
11.
President of Turkey
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The President of the Republic of Turkey is the head of state of the Republic of Turkey. The Presidency is largely a ceremonial office but has important functions. The articles from 101 to 106 of the Constitution establish all the requirements, election, duties, the office of the President of Turkey was established with the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on October 29,1923. The President of Turkey is often referred to as the Cumhurbaşkanı. The current office-holder is the 12th President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since August 28,2014, in order to become the President of Turkey, the candidate must have completed higher education, and be at least forty years of age. The president-elect has to sever his relations, if any, with his political party, candidates must be declared to the bureau of the parliament within the first 10 days of this period, and elections must be completed within the remaining 20 days. Formerly, the President was elected by the members of the Turkish Parliament, according to an amendment that was drafted in 2007, the future Presidents shall be elected by the citizens through a public vote. The candidates must be over forty years old and must have completed their higher education and they can either be members of the Turkish Parliament, or common Turkish citizens who fulfill these requirements and who are eligible to become members of parliament. The President is selected for a term of office of five years, the term of office of the incumbent president continues until the President-elect takes office. The president performs also the duties of selection and appointment, and other duties conferred by the constitution, thus the prime minister and the concerned ministers are accountable for these decrees. The decisions and orders signed by the president on his own initiatives may not be appealed against to any judicial authority, including the Constitutional Court
12.
Cabinet of Turkey
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The Cabinet of Turkey or Council of Ministers is the body that exercises supreme executive authority in Turkey. It is composed of the heads of the major ministries, Ministers are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. The cabinet is the power and is responsible for the management of the state. The current cabinet is the 65th cabinet of Turkey and is led by Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım
13.
National Security Council (Turkey)
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The National Security Council comprises the Chief of Staff, select members of the Council of Ministers, and the President of the Republic. Like the national security councils of other countries, the MGK develops the national security policy, the policy is expressed in the National Security Policy Document, commonly known as The Red Book. The Red Book is sometimes called the most secret document in Turkey and it is updated once or twice a decade. The creation of the MGK was an outcome of the coup in 1960. The role of the MGK was further strengthened with the 1982 constitution, adopted by the junta in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup. From then on its recommendations would be given priority consideration by the council of ministers, furthermore, the number and weight of senior military commanders in MGK increased at the expense of its civilian members. In 1992 then chief of general staff Gen. Doğan Güreş proclaimed self-confidently that Turkey is a military state, the MGK is widely perceived as the institutionalisation of the Turkish military’s influence over politics. Paradoxically, the military has both been an important force in Turkey’s continuous Westernization but at the time also represents an obstacle for Turkey’s desire to join the EU. At the same time, the military enjoys a degree of popular legitimacy. In order to meet EUs political demands for starting membership negotiations and these reforms have mainly focused on the MGK, its duties, functioning and composition. On 23 July 2003 the Turkish Grand National Assembly passed the reform package. According to an editorial in the Financial Times the seventh reform package constitutes nothing less than a quiet revolution, firstly it is underlined that the MGK is a consultative body, now with a civilian majority. The 7th reform package made it possible to appoint a civilian Secretary General of the MGK, in addition, the MGK no longer has unlimited access to all civil institutions. The MGK no longer has a representative in the Supervision Board of Cinema, Video, before the reforms, the MGK covertly influenced public opinion through its Public Relations Command
14.
Governor (Turkey)
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In Turkey, a Governor is an official responsible for the implementation of legislation, constitutional and government decisions in individual provinces. There are 81 Governors in Turkey, one for each province, Governors are legally required to be politically neutral and have power over public offices within their Province, including the provincial police force. They also have a role in local government, though mayors and councillors are elected to these roles in local elections. The Provincial head of security also concurrently serves as Deputy Governor, the Kaymakam, has similar functions and roles as the Governor but operates on a district level. The Governor is officially appointed to his or her role by the President of Turkey, the President then formally appoints the candidate as the Governor of a province after a final period of evaluation. There are no set limits for Governors, though they can be removed from their position at the will of the Interior Ministry. Governors can also be moved from province to province, meaning that it is not unusual for Governors to be appointed to a Province in which they have no experience or personal connection. Governors are mainly tasked with the implementation of government legislation and decisions, the Governor presides over the celebrations and formally accepts any awards presented during a ceremony. One of the most important functions of a Governor is to make decisions, constitutional requirements. They are also tasked with the implementation of any demands of government ministries, in the event that legislation cannot be directly or practically implemented, the Governor is responsible for bringing about the conditions in which new legislation is compatible with their province. The Governors powers are decided by government legislation and have the right to issue a command to implement government decisions, legislation. Governors have the right to supervise and reorganise local government positions, which include district and metropolitan municipalities as well as municipal and provincial councillors. Any legislative changes to government are also implemented by the Governor. The Governor has the right to appoint and move some public officials from their positions, the Governor, as mentioned above, can redetermine the remit and the positions of some public officials within a province. The Governor is the highest level of command of both the police forces and the Gendarmerie. The Deputy Governor concurrently serves as the head of provincial security, in order to maintain peace and security, a Governor has the right to take certain decisions intended to stop civil disobediences. Since Governors are appointed by the government, there have been concerns over whether Governors can truly be neutral and this is because they are appointed by a partisan government. Several politicians that have become government ministers, such as Efkan Ala, furthermore, Governors have been accused on numerous occasions of acting with bias in favour of the government
15.
Judicial system of Turkey
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The judicial system of Turkey is defined by Articles 138 to 160 of the 1982 Constitution. Civilian and military jurisdiction are separated, while military courts usually only try military personnel, they can also try civilians in times of martial law and in matters concerning military service. Turkeys judicial system has been integrated with the system of continental Europe. For instance, the Turkish Civil Code has been modified by incorporating elements mainly of the Swiss Civil Code and Code of Obligations, the Administrative Code bears similarities with its French counterpart, and the Penal Code with its Italian counterpart. The general term for members of the profession in Turkey is hukukçu. In Turkey, any man or woman, after having graduated from a law faculty at a university, can become avukat, hâkim or yargıç, private lawyers spend one year of internship and then join a bar association and the Turkish Bar Association. All Turkish lawyers are required to black robes in court. The Turkish court system does not recognize the concept of a jury, verdicts for both criminal and civil trials are reached by a judge or usually a panel of three judges, who have to base their verdicts on the law and their conviction. A judge is also a law graduate and can be one of the following, Criminal judge, Civil judge. The criminal judges serve at a penal court and these courts are separated into ağır ceza, asliye ceza, and sulh ceza. The civil judges serve at civil courts of first instance or at civil courts of peace, after the Constitutional amendment which took place 2010, the composition of The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors was completely changed. It currently consists of 22 members, ten members out of 22 are elected among the judges and prosecutors by their colleagues working in first instance courts. Minister of Justice is the president of High Council and The Undersecretary of the Justice Minister is also an ex-officio member, in the existing system, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors has its own Secretariat. In addition, the Inspection Board operates under the authority of High Council, Public charges are brought by prosecutors. Their full title is Prosecutor of the Republic and they have an office of prosecution. Prosecutors are also divided into branches regarding their area in laws, in the Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Turkey in 2006 it was stated, The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors was widely criticized for undermining the independence of the judiciary. The minister of justice serves as chairman of the high council. The high council selects judges and prosecutors for the courts and is responsible for oversight of the lower courts
16.
Council of State (Turkey)
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The Council of State is the highest administrative court in the Republic of Turkey and is based in Ankara. Its role and tasks are prescribed by the Constitution of Turkey within the articles on the supreme courts and it shall also be the first and last instance for dealing with specific cases prescribed by law. Currently within the Turkish Council of State there are 15 Divisions,14 of them are judicial divisions, in each division, there are at least 5 members including the Head of the Division. Judgments are delivered by an absolute majority, the Plenary Assembly of the Council of State consists of 156 members. The president of the council is Zerrin Güngör, Turkish Council of State shooting Official Web site
17.
Court of Cassation (Turkey)
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The Court of Cassation, also called Supreme Court of Appeals of Turkey which was founded in 1868 is the last instance for reviewing verdicts given by courts of criminal and civil justice. The institution of the court of appeals was Divan in the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century, the first modern court of appeals which was the first form of todays Yargıtay was established during the reign of Abdülaziz on 6 March 1868. There are different view on the date of foundation, some jurists hold that 6 March 1868 is the founding date when the Padishah announced his will and others hold that 1 April 1868, when the statute of the court was passed is the founding date. Its first president was Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, the governor of Aleppo, the high court was composed of members from Muslim and non-Muslim communities in a ratio of two thirds and one third respectively. The name Divan-ı Ahkam-ı Adliye was changed June 18,1879 to Mahkeme-i Temyiz by an act on foundation of courts. On 7 June 1920 the Grand National Assembly of Turkey passed a law established four chambers for appeal cases referring to civil, criminal, religious justice. The Court of Cassation in Istanbul continued to exist, when Istanbul came under the reign of the national government on 4 November 1922 the court were united by transferring the files from Istanbul to Sivas. The Temporary Committee of Appeals moved from Sivas to Eskişehir on November 14,1923 due to better transportation potential, at the same time, the committees name was changed to Court of Appeals. In 1935, the Supreme Court of Appeals moved to its new building in Ankara, on January 10,1945, the name of the Court of Appeals was changed to Court of Cassation. The latest act related to the Court of Cassation is from February 4,1983, the Court is divided into 30 chambers according to their particular specialized field. There are 20 civil chambers,10 penal chambers, until 2001 there were 21 civil and 11 criminal chambers. A chamber has five members, one of which is president of the chamber, one elected judge by the all judges of the Court of Cassation presides over the entire Court as general President. All presidents and judge-members of civil chambers form the General Civil Assembly, in the civil chambers, average case-file number which come to these chambers annually is 261,716 and duration of handling the case-file changes from two months to three months. In the criminal chambers,139,025 case-files are concluded on the average annually. The Law provides that the Courts are to be established within two years of its entry into force. ”The progress report of the European Commission on Turkey dated 9 November 2010 stated, The regional courts of appeal are not operational yet. By law, they should have been in operation by June 2007. ”In a report of 17 June 2010 Amnesty International called for an end of prosecution of children under anti-terrorism legislation, prosecutions are often based on insubstantive evidence or statements taken from the children under pressure. The anti-terrorism legislation that the children are prosecuted under is vague and overly broad in its wording and unfair in its application by judges and these and other criticisms led to further reforms. On 1 March 2011 the Law Library of Congress reported, Turkeys Parliament passed a controversial judicial reform bill on February 9,2011, under the Law on the Amendment of Certain Laws, the highest level of the judiciary will be restructured
18.
Legal System in the Republic of Turkey
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The judicial system of Turkey is defined by Articles 138 to 160 of the 1982 Constitution. Civilian and military jurisdiction are separated, while military courts usually only try military personnel, they can also try civilians in times of martial law and in matters concerning military service. Turkeys judicial system has been integrated with the system of continental Europe. For instance, the Turkish Civil Code has been modified by incorporating elements mainly of the Swiss Civil Code and Code of Obligations, the Administrative Code bears similarities with its French counterpart, and the Penal Code with its Italian counterpart. The general term for members of the profession in Turkey is hukukçu. In Turkey, any man or woman, after having graduated from a law faculty at a university, can become avukat, hâkim or yargıç, private lawyers spend one year of internship and then join a bar association and the Turkish Bar Association. All Turkish lawyers are required to black robes in court. The Turkish court system does not recognize the concept of a jury, verdicts for both criminal and civil trials are reached by a judge or usually a panel of three judges, who have to base their verdicts on the law and their conviction. A judge is also a law graduate and can be one of the following, Criminal judge, Civil judge. The criminal judges serve at a penal court and these courts are separated into ağır ceza, asliye ceza, and sulh ceza. The civil judges serve at civil courts of first instance or at civil courts of peace, after the Constitutional amendment which took place 2010, the composition of The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors was completely changed. It currently consists of 22 members, ten members out of 22 are elected among the judges and prosecutors by their colleagues working in first instance courts. Minister of Justice is the president of High Council and The Undersecretary of the Justice Minister is also an ex-officio member, in the existing system, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors has its own Secretariat. In addition, the Inspection Board operates under the authority of High Council, Public charges are brought by prosecutors. Their full title is Prosecutor of the Republic and they have an office of prosecution. Prosecutors are also divided into branches regarding their area in laws, in the Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Turkey in 2006 it was stated, The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors was widely criticized for undermining the independence of the judiciary. The minister of justice serves as chairman of the high council. The high council selects judges and prosecutors for the courts and is responsible for oversight of the lower courts
19.
Electoral system of Turkey
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The Electoral system of Turkey varies for general, presidential and local elections that take place in Turkey every four years, five years and five years respectively. Turkey has been a multi-party democracy since 1950, with the first democratic election held on 14 May 1950 leading to the end of the single-party rule established in 1923. The current electoral system for electing Members of Parliament to the Grand National Assembly has a 10% election threshold, the highest of any country. Presidential elections, A Two-round system, with the top two contesting a run-off election two weeks after the initial election should no candidate win at least 50%+1 of the popular vote. Turkey elects 550 Members of Parliament to the Grand National Assembly using the DHondt method, E. g. in the 2002 general election the AKP won 34. 28% of the vote but won nearly two-thirds of the seats. This was the case in the 2007 and 2011 general election, where the Kurdish Democratic Society Party, the main criticism of the current system is the high 10% threshold necessary to gain seats. Under these proposals, the threshold would fall from 10% to either 7 or 8% while Turkey would be split into 129 electoral districts rather than the existing 85, İstanbul itself would have been split into 17 or 20 districts. The two main opposition parties CHP and MHP do not have a number of electoral strongholds. The AKPs proposals for reform have raised concerns about gerrymandering, Turkey is split into 85 electoral districts, which elect a certain number of Members to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The Grand National Assembly has a total of 550 seats, which each district allocated a certain number of MPs in proportion to their population. The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey conducts population reviews of each district before the election, in all but three cases, electoral districts share the same name and borders of the 81 Provinces of Turkey. The exceptions are İzmir, İstanbul and Ankara, Provinces electing between 19 and 36 MPs are split into two electoral districts, while any province electing above 36 MPs are divided into three. As the countrys three largest provinces, İzmir and Ankara are divided into two subdistricts while İstanbul is divided into three, the distribution of elected MPs per electoral district is shown below. A total of eight districts had their number of MPs adjusted since the 2011 general election by the electoral council. The two electoral districts of Ankara also had their boundaries changed, the number of voters in each province was announced on 17 May 2015. In total, there are 53,741,838 voters in the provinces, however, because of the electoral system, this was not distributed equally to the provinces. In İzmir, where voters per MP was the highest,118,669 votes corresponded to an MP, two factors caused this more than fourfold disparity. Namely, the electoral law favours provinces smaller in size, which caused İzmir, İstanbul and Ankara, Turkeys largest cities and provinces, to have the least representation per voter
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Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey
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The Supreme Electoral Council is the highest electoral authority in Turkey. It was established by the Deputies Election Law no.5545 on 16 February 1950, after the 1960 coup, the Supreme Electoral Council gained constitutional authority by the Constitution of 1961. Its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld, the Supreme Electoral Council consists of a president, six members and four substitute members from the Court of Cassation and the Council of State judges
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History of Turkish presidential elections
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There have been 17 elections for the President of Turkey since the establishment of the republic in 1923, electing 9 distinct Turkish citizens as president. Kenan Evren became the president without an election, so that he assumed the title by the ratification of the present constitution on 7 November 1982. The 2014 presidential elections in August 2014 was the first direct election of a President, list of Presidents of Turkey Turkish presidential election,2014 Tesav Presidents website Roger P. Nye. Civil-Military Confrontation in Turkey, The 1973 Presidential Election, international Journal of Middle East Studies,8, pp 209-228
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Turkish presidential election, 2007
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The 2007 Turkish presidential election refers to two attempts to elect the countrys 11th president, to succeed Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The most likely candidate for president was Abdullah Gül, the first attempt consisted of the first rounds on 27 April and its repeat on 6 May after Turkeys constitutional court annulled the first round on 27 April. The constitutional court decided that a quorum of two-thirds was necessary, both first rounds were almost entirely boycotted by opposition MPs to disable the voting to start. Therefore, the ruling Justice and Development Party was unsuccessful in electing its candidate, AK Party then called a snap election which was held on July 22,2007. The general elections saw it returned to government with a proportion of the vote. Subsequently, Gül was renominated and was elected in the third round of the second attempt of presidential election. The first round of voting was on 20 August, while a second was on 24 August. There was a quorum this time, since opposition parties, most importantly the Nationalist Movement Party. The presidential vote is held among MPs in parliament by secret ballot, a candidate requires a two-thirds majority to be elected in the first two rounds. If there is no clear winner before the round, the winning threshold is dropped to a simple majority. If there is no winner, the two candidates with the most votes from the third round progress to a runoff election, where the simple majority rule still applies. In the event of no clear winner among the two, the Constitution states that a general election must be called to overcome the parliamentary deadlock. In addition, the opposition party, CHP argued that a quorum of two-thirds was necessary while the ruling party. Later, the court ruled that a quorum of two-thirds was necessary. Abdullah Güls candidacy was announced by Erdoğan on April 24,2007 while calling Gül as his brother and he was the official candidate of the Justice and Development Party, thus making him the strongest candidate to be the 11th president of Turkey. During his campaign, he met the leaders of parties represented in the Parliament, none of the parties said that they would vote for Gül in the elections. After the Supreme Courts rule on the method, his chance to become the next president decreased since the support of Justice. On May 6,2007, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül withdrew his candidacy after the Parliament failed to achieve a quorum for a second time, ersönmez Yarbay was another candidate from the Justice and Development Party
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Turkish presidential election, 2014
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Presidential elections were held on 10 August 2014 in order to elect the 12th President of Turkey. Incumbent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected outright with a majority of the vote in the first round. The election took place under reforms resulting from the 2007 constitutional referendum, over 55 million people were eligible to vote, both within Turkey and abroad. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the AKP, first elected Prime Minister in 2002, the co-leader of the Peoples Democratic Party Selahattin Demirtaş, who received the backing of 8 left-wing parties, came third with 9. 76%. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took over as President from Abdullah Gül on 28 August, while Ahmet Davutoğlu, the historic 12-year low turnout of 74. As Gül took office on 28 August 2007, the first possible day could be 29 June, also, the Prime Minister of Turkey could be nominated for the presidency without having to resign from his post. Three candidates were nominated to participate in the election, a more detailed list of parties that endorsed them can be found in the List of parties by presidential candidates section. To run for election, a candidate needs to be nominated by at least 20 Members of Parliament in the Grand National Assembly, three candidates obtained sufficient endorsements from parliament in order to register with the Supreme Electoral Council. The Electoral Council forbids any potential candidate from nominating themselves, since this would give advantage to prospective candidates who were sitting Members of Parliament. The AKP began collecting signatures for a candidate from all 311 eligible MPs out of their 312-seat total. Due to the debate on whether the CHPs candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu adhered to secular, six CHP MPs protested their leaders choice of candidate by attempting to nominate Emine Ülker Tarhan instead, though she herself stated that she would not stand as a candidate. Out of the 14 independent MPs, three supported İhsanoğlu while two supported Demirtaş, with the remaining 9 boycotting the process altogether. Only 536 seats out of the 550 are occupied, with many vacant MPs having resigned or serving prison sentences due to their roles in the PKK, or the Sledgehammer, Turkish and international media speculated that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would almost certainly be the AKPs candidate for the Presidency. This was proven correct on 1 July when Erdoğans candidacy was announced, Abdullah Gül, the outgoing President of Turkey elected in 2007 caused media speculation regarding a potential candidacy in January 2014. He announced that he would not stand on 29 June 2014, a full list of possible AKP candidates which at one point showed intentions of running for election is as follows. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the AKP and Prime Minister of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister of Turkey, President of Turkey. Bülent Arınç, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and Speaker of Parliament, the two main opposition parties, the Republican Peoples Party and the Nationalist Movement Party had both expressed interest in fielding a joint candidate after the March 2014 local elections. In an unofficial vote of CHP MPs, Eskişehir mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen was seen as a potential forerunner, a list of potential candidates which had expressed interest in running, or had been recommended as a candidate of the CHP or its parliamentary sister party DSP is as follows
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Turkish general election, June 2015
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The Turkish general election of June 2015 took place on 7 June 2015 in all 85 electoral districts of Turkey to elect 550 members to the Grand National Assembly. This was the 24th general election in the history of the Turkish Republic, the result was the first hung parliament since the 1999 general election. Unsuccessful attempts to form a coalition government resulted in a general election being called for November 2015. The Justice and Development Party, which had governed Turkey since 2002, lost its parliamentary majority, the main opposition Republican Peoples Party also fared worse than their 2011 result, and won 132 seats with 25. 0% of the vote. The Nationalist Movement Party had been projected to win over many disaffected voters from the AKP and its share of the vote increased, and the party won 80 seats with 16. 3% of the vote. The party fared better than expectations, it won 13. 1% of the vote and took 80 seats, campaigning before the election focused mainly on a faltering economy, the political conflict between the government and the Gülen Movement, and Turkeys involvement in the Syrian Civil War. The vote was seen by some as a referendum on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğans call for an executive presidency, Electoral fraud claims and political violence caused controversy in the run-up to the election. Several candidates and party offices were subject to politically motivated attacks, the governing Justice and Development Party sought a fourth consecutive term in government. Its leader, Ahmet Davutoğlu, who had taken over from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in August 2014, the Republican Peoples Party aimed to surpass the 30% boundary and to form a government, potentially with the help of smaller parties or in its own right. The CHPs leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had publicly stated that his party would target 35% of the vote, popular support for the Nationalist Movement Party had surged during the 2014 local elections, and it aimed to participate in a coalition government. However, several politicians from the CHP and MHP resigned in protest against their unrealistic electoral prospects, the most prominent break-away party was the Anatolia Party formed by former CHP MP Emine Ülker Tarhan in November 2014. This election is the last election - presidential, local and general - scheduled in Turkey until 2019, speculation as to what the AKP government will do during four years of electorally unchecked power should they win generated both favourable predictions and concerns. The AKP also support a system, which would give greater powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This would allow the AKPs new leader to seek a mandate in their own right rather than serving the remainder of Erdoğans term before seeking re-election. Although Erdoğan did win outright with 51. 79% of the vote, despite this, speculation in December 2014 as to whether the election would be brought forward in order not to clash with summer examinations remained. In the end, no initiative was taken and Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey went on with the date 7 June. Some schools changed the times of examinations in order to not clash with polling day, the AKP were widely expected to target at least 330 seats in parliament in order to pursue constitutional reforms. In the 2014 local elections, the AKP won 42. 87% of the vote, the opposition Republican Peoples Party would have won 130–145 seats, the Nationalist Movement Party would have won 75–85 and Kurdish nationalist independent candidates would win between 30–45 seats
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Turkish general election, November 2015
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The Turkish general election of November 2015 was held on 1 November 2015 throughout the 85 electoral districts of Turkey to elect 550 members to the Grand National Assembly. It was the 25th general election in the History of the Republic of Turkey, the election resulted in the Justice and Development Party regaining a Parliamentary majority following a shock victory, having lost it five months earlier in the June 2015 general election. The snap election was called by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 24 August 2015 after the June election resulted in a hung parliament and coalition negotiations broke down. The election rendered the 25th Parliament of Turkey, elected in June, the election was preceded by the deadliest terrorist attack in Turkeys modern history, after two suicide bombers killed 102 people attending a peace rally in central Ankara. Numerous political parties, notably the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, Fehmi Demir, the leader of the Rights and Freedoms Party, was killed in a traffic accident six days before the election. With 49. 5% of the vote and 317 seats, the party won a majority of 84. The results were seen as a shock win for the AKP and was hailed as a massive personal victory for President Erdoğan. The MHP and the HDP both saw decreases in support, with both hovering dangerously close to the 10% election threshold needed to win seats, Turkish politics is largely dominated by four main parties. The main opposition Republican Peoples Party has remained as the second largest party since 2002, observing a centre-left social democratic, the Nationalist Movement Party observes a Turkish nationalist ideology and has maintained third party status in Parliament since the 2007 general election. The Peoples Democratic Party was founded in 2012 and originates from the left-wing Peoples Democratic Congress and it is largely seen as a pro-Kurdish party and maintains an ideology of minority rights and anti-capitalism. All four parties surpassed the 10% election threshold in the June 2015 general election and won representation in Parliament, Elections were held on 7 June 2015 in order to elect the 25th Parliament of Turkey, following the expiry of the 24th Parliaments four-year term. Suffering a 9% decrease in their share, the governing AKP won 258 out of the 550 seats,18 seats short of a majority. The CHP also suffered a decrease in their vote and seat share. The MHP and the HDP both won 80 seats, with the HDP managing to surpass the 10% election threshold despite concerns that it could fall below the boundary, the election resulted in the first hung parliament since the 1999 general election. The election result immediately raised speculation over a general election. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan invited AKP leader Ahmet Davutoğlu to form a government on 9 July 2015, if a government was not formed within 45 days, then Erdoğan reserved the right to either extend the 45-day period or call an early election. After being asked to form a government by virtue of leading the largest party in Parliament, the CHP had previously made it a condition that any coalition deal should last for four years, the entire duration of the parliamentary term. Stating that early elections were the most likely possibility, Davutoğlu requested a meeting with MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli in a attempt to form an AKP-MHP coalition
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Turkish local elections, 2009
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Turkey held local elections on 29 March 2009. The overall winner was the ruling party Justice and Development Party, the third largest party, the Turkish nationalist MHP, enjoyed a more modest vote surge. The election was not contested by Cem Uzans GP, the AKP failed to take certain provinces it had publicly targeted, such as Diyarbakır, İzmir and Urfa, and did not achieve its goal of exceeding 47% of the overall vote. There was localized election-related fighting in southeastern Turkey, in five people were reported to have been killed. The provisional results for provincial councils are given below,1 Figures are provisional and will be subject to official review,2 Great Union Party leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu died in a helicopter crash four days before the local elections. Elections were also held for district mayors as well as neighbourhood presidents
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Turkish local elections, 2014
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Local elections were held in Turkey on 30 March 2014, with some repeated on 1 June 2014. Metropolitan and district mayors as well as their municipal council members in cities, in light of the controversy around the elections, it was viewed as a referendum on the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. About 50 million people were eligible to vote, a local government re-organisation took place before the election, lowering the total number of elected officials from 38,592 to 23,132. Almost 1,500 beldes had their municipalities abolished, meaning that a fewer number of mayors were elected compared to the 2009 local elections. Most provinces no longer elect any provincial councillors, the number of metropolitan municipalities, however, rose from 16 to 30. The elections were marred by allegations of fraud and violence. Significant cases of fraud in Ankara and Yalova were referred to the Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey for reviewal, the elections had been controversial due to allegations of government corruption, voter bribery and the lack of up-to-date voter records beforehand. Regardless, the governing Justice and Development Party declared victory in the hours of 31 March. The opposition Republican Peoples Party came second with 26. 34%,232 municipalities and 4,320 councillors, by 4 April 2014, numerous municipalities changed mayors following recounts. A repeat of the elections in these areas took place on 1 June and these most notably occurred in Yalova and Ağrı, in which the ruling AKP had lost by a small margin to the CHP and BDP respectively on March 30. Turkish local elections are held five years in order to elect mayors to 30 metropolitan municipalities,1,008 district municipalities and 2,187 town municipalities. In addition, an excess of 53,450 neighbourhood leaders are elected, though most are non-partisan, elderly and municipal council compositions were also elected through a separate ballot. The previous elections were held on 29 March 2009 and were won by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğans AKP with 38. 8% of the vote, before the elections, the numbers of councillors and mayors were reduced during the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation. The following table shows the numbers of metropolitan and district municipalities, as well as provincial and municipal councillors elected in 2009, in local elections, municipal mayors and councillors are the only partisan officials elected. In 2013, a spate of anti-government protests and counter measures took place, the controversy surrounding the police response resulted in Germany seeking to delay European Union accession talks with Turkey. On 17 December 2013, police arrested several close associates and family members of government ministers as part of a corruption investigation, Prime Minister Erdoğan responded by either dismissing or reassigning thousands of police and judicial personnel while denying all allegations of wrongdoing. A string of recorded calls between government ministers and close supporters allegedly discussing corruption were made public following the start of the corruption scandal. The tape caused particular damnation, after which CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu advised the Prime Minister to flee by helicopter, the Prime Minister responded by calling the tape a montage, though this claim could not be verified by the national scientific development agency TÜBİTAK
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