Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has won a resounding victory in the just-concluded general elections. It has won around 47 per cent of the vote, which will enable it to control 341 of the 550 seats in Parliament. The AKP has consolidated its hold over parliament. This means that the chances of the candidate it puts up for the Presidential election is brighter than before. It was over the AKP’s candidate for President, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a devout Muslim whose wife wears the Islamic headscarf, that Turkey’s military threatened to intervene some months ago. This had triggered a serious political crisis in the country. With the AKP unable to muster a majority in parliament to elect its candidate and opposition parties boycotting the vote, Turkey was paralysed by the crisis.

Secular parties had staged massive street demonstrations to protest against Gul’s candidature, describing it as a threat to Turkey’s secularism. But barely three months after millions of people poured into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul to express their support for secularism, the Turkish electorate has extended massive support to the Islamist AKP. The victory of the AKP does not signal unambiguous support for political Islam - half the electorate voted for secular parties. But it shows that the Turkish people do not see the AKP to be a threat to secularism. While the AKP’s strong showing is in part an endorsement of the party’s performance in power, it is more importantly, a slap in the face of the military. By voting the AKP, the people of Turkey have signalled that they are opposed to the military’s meddling in the political arena.

The AKP has strengthened its position vis-à-vis the army but it still does not have the number of seats to push through its Presidential candidate. It will need support from other parties. Will it opt for confrontation by insisting on Mr Gul for President or will it choose a compromise candidate? The election has weakened Turkey’s military but it remains waiting and watching from the wings. The AKP cannot afford to take the threat posed by the generals lightly. It would do well to consolidate the support it received from secular sections that are opposed to the military rather than focus on an Islamist agenda.