Turkish general election, 2007

Turkish general election, 2007

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Total of 550 seats of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey 276 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	84.25% ( 5.11 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Deniz Baykal Devlet Bahçeli Party AK Party CHP MHP Leader since 14 August 2001 30 September 2000 6 July 1997 Leader's seat İstanbul (I) Antalya Osmaniye Last election 363 seats, 34.28% 178 seats, 19.39% no seats, 8.36% Seats before 351 151 0 Seats won 341 112 71 Seat change 10 39 71 Popular vote 16,327,291 7,317,808 5,001,869 Percentage 46.58% 20.88% 14.27% Swing 12.30 pp 1.49 pp 5.91 pp
Winners according to provinces:      AKP        CHP        MHP        Independent Thousand Hope Candidates The Thousand Hope Candidates contested the election as independents to bypass the 10% election threshold. Provinces & districts where the total votes for all independents combined topped the poll are shown in purple, even though these candidates may have won less votes than other parties individually.
Prime Minister before election Recep Tayyip Erdoğan AK Party Elected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan AK Party

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
AK Party

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
AK Party

The Turkish general election of 2007 was held on July 22, 2007 to elect 550 members to the Grand National Assembly. The election was the 22nd general election to be held in the history of the Turkish Republic and the members elected formed the 23rd Parliament of Turkey.

Originally scheduled for November, the elections were pulled forward after Parliament failed to elect a new president to replace Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The result was a resounding victory for the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP), which won 46.6% of the vote and 341 seats. The party's leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was consequently re-elected as Prime Minister of Turkey. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) came second with 20.9% of the vote and took 112 seats. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which had failed to surpass the 10% election threshold in the 2002 election, re-entered parliament with 14.3% of the vote and 71 MPs. The election was fought mostly on Turkey's debate over laïcité that had been perceived to be under threat from the AKP's nomination of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, an Islamist politician, for the Presidency. Developments in Iraq (explained under positions on terrorism and security), secular and religious concerns, the intervention of the military in political issues, European Union membership negotiations, the United States and the Muslim world were other main issues.