Abstract :
Turkish general election of November 3, 2002 seems to open a new page in Turkish political
landscape. It is the first time, since 1954, that only two parties have succeeded to share the seats in
the parliament. Despite the Proportional Representative System, which renders possible the
representation of even small parties in parliament, sixteen parties failed to pass the 10 percent
national threshold. This means that almost 45 percent of votes have not been represented in the
parliament due to the 10 percent national threshold. One of the most surprising results of this
election is the erosion in the voter support of the political parties that had taken part in governments
in the last two decades of Turkish politics preceding the elections. Another significant result of this
election is the Justice and Development Party’s (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi-AKP) astonishing
triumph with 34.2 percent of popular vote and 363 seats out of 550 in the parliament.
