How Erdogan Made Turkey's Next Election Like No Other

The most pivotal elections in modern Turkish history later this month will mark the coronation of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presidential office as the nexus of political power. The June 24 vote capping Erdogan’s years-long drive to transform Turkey’s government comes during a state of emergency that’s brought mass purges of political opponents and a crackdown on dissent that’s eliminated many independent or opposition news sources and made the country the world’s biggest jailer of journalists. All of that lends extra importance to whether Erdogan wins another term and, if so, what sort of parliament he deals with.

Last year, Erdogan narrowly won public approval for a package of constitutional amendments that will move Turkey from its parliamentary democracy into an executive presidential system. Under the amendments, the change takes effect at the next presidential vote. That was scheduled for November 2019, but Erdogan, on April 18, called early elections for parliament and the presidency. His ruling Justice and Development Party, or AK Party, had never before called early elections in the nearly 16 years it’s been in power.