Tehran, Nov 8, IRNA – While the recent vote in Turkey and the victory of Justice and Development Party or AK, was described by the local and international columnists as 'yes to stability', it is yet to be known that how the country is going to address its new challenges.

Turkish author Harun Yahya in an opinion piece published by the English-language paper Iran Daily investigates the post-election environment in Turkey and what the future will have for the country.
The full text follows:

The Turkish people voted for a second time on November 1st after failing to form a coalition government following the June elections. As is known, the AK Party, that lost a serious number of votes in the previous elections, had been obliged to form a coalition government for the first time after 13-year single party run.

These five months were a time of uncertainty and instability due to Turkey being without an official government. Besides, many terror attacks took place in many parts of the country that resulted in the martyrdom of many of our police officers, soldiers and ordinary civilians. One of the biggest attacks was quite shocking, not only for the Turks, but for the entire world as it occurred in the center of the capital of Turkey.

That insidious blast caused fear among people because it was an indication that the terror attacks were not limited to only southeastern Turkey but had reached metropolitan areas. The Turkish people went to the ballot boxes under such circumstances. The ballot boxes were opened and the voters said “yes to stability” according to the local and international columnists.

Above all, the results of November elections were considered as astonishing for everyone, even for AK Party supporters. They said they were not expecting the turnout as the AK Party gained nearly 50% of the votes by increasing its share 9% in a matter of five months. Moreover, the polling companies who were known to make accurate estimations had to apologize on TV for their incorrect predictions. Consequently, the results showed that Turkey did not prefer a coalition government but a strong one-party rule to present them with a secure environment free from terrorism.

The opposition parties were also able to pass the 10% threshold and take their seats in the parliament in order to sustain stability, to continue to have plurality and to have a functioning democracy. Yet, the opposition parties were also surprised to see the shift of their votes in favor of the AK Party to a certain extent.

It is essential to note that Turkey is not a country that only thinks of its own benefit but has a good head on its shoulders when comes to its neighbors. It has managed to turn these differences into richness. Therefore, it is important to note the importance of a stable Turkey’s existence in the Middle East, where we are witnessing severe conflicts and sufferings everyday.

As Turkey now has a powerful government, it will make it more effective to bring the fighting in the region to end. With the new AK Party government coming to power as a single party, it will be easier for them to reconcile with its strong neighbors, especially Iran.

During the AK Party’s 13-year rule and the Erdogan administrations, Turkey and Iran had a positive relationship despite some roughness due to some policy differences, which are quite common in diplomatic relations between countries. The AK Party has directly - or indirectly - supported Iran during its rule and there is no reason why the new government won’t act the same.

President Rouhani sent a message to President Erdogan following the elections praying for the success of the government and further expansion of their relations with Turkey. Also, the head of the Iran-Turkey parliamentary friendship group, Moayed Hosseini Sadr, celebrated the victory and stated that their relations would grow during the new period, giving good news of numerous mutual visits by high-ranking officials from both countries.

Iran and Turkey are powerful enough to bring peace to the region and, therefore, some foreign media circles are trying to drive a wedge between them to prevent their unity. Yet, this is out of consideration as these two wise countries will not fall for such plots which try to weaken the Islamic world; the constant positive mutual messages of the leaders is an important indication that they will not let this happen.

Stressing that the two states have no competition in regards to the regional issues, Rouhani has stated that the best way to overcome such conspiracies lies in carrying out serious reciprocal meetings. If these two strong Muslim nations with a deep common culture cannot do their best to bring peace, the war in the region will continue and that will mean the killing of more people everyday. Saving even one human life is what matters the most. As Muslims, we are responsible to undertake all the necessary efforts with all our might. We believe we can make it with Iran by the will of God.

By IRNA