Turkey follow up

Judging from the press reports the elections came out pretty well here. The AK Party got a resounding majority, a huge slap in the face for the generals who are still trying to run the country.

The left-Kurdish alliance has done pretty well. If the projections are right the DTP, the Kurdish party, has enough members of parliament to set up a formal parliamentary group. The AK Party just short of the 2/3 majority it needs to elect a new president, and the DTP probably has enough seats to make the difference, hopefully putting them in a position to get some concessions.

One of the Left candidates seems to have been elected too -- Mehmet Ufuk Uras, the chairmain of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP). This is very important for the future of the alliance I talked about last time -- particularly since the ODP, the second most important participant after the DTP, was deeply divided about participating. Uras now has something to show for it, and one hopes that will help things along in the future.