What should the AK Party do?

Since no party came out to have enough power to form a new government on its own following June 7 elections, only one subject is currently being discussed: Who will form the government and with whom? I know from my sources that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will exert a sincere effort to form a coalition. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also expressed the necessity of forming a government as soon as possible, but when the overall picture is viewed, many questions come up since opposition parties have so many red lines that would hinder them from coalescing. For me, it is highly possible that another election will be held in November. If the Justice and Development (AK Party) cannot obtain any result from its coalition efforts as a party that endeavors to operate the system rather than blocking it, its voting rates will supposedly increase. If we put aside the option of early elections, there are two other possibilities. The AK Party can make a coalition with either the Republican People's Party (CHP) or the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The possibility of forming a coalition with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) seems to have been laid aside as the campaign and general stance of the HDP already indicated.

The AK Party seems to have lost its votes from two major electorate groups. The first and largest group includes Kurds while the second includes nationalist-conservatives from central Anatolia. The main reason for it is the reconciliation process. But this result does not necessarily indicate that the reconciliation process is wrong. Contrarily, Erdoğan had said that he was taking the greatest risk of his political life, which came out to be true. I suggest that the continuation of the process despite this loss would bring success to the AK Party. Otherwise, it would be left only with its loss and it would also get closer to the political line of the MHP.

There are two options before the AK Party in terms of coalition possibilities. It will either focus on the voters who are inclined to the MHP and go into a partnership with MHP by putting the reconciliation process on the shelf or it will have its name written in gold letters on permanent peace by persisting to maintain the process. When the HDP's path, its negative and harsh language, and the election results are considered altogether, it seems that it is more possible for the AK Party to diverge from the path of the reconciliation process. But if the party does that and undertakes a partnership with the MHP, it would be a great mistake, in my opinion. It would put aside the reconciliation process and leave Kurds completely to the hands of the HDP by admitting that it was a mistake. Besides, since such a partnership will be regarded as a government that excludes Kurds, Turkish politics would enter a serious crisis.

The AK Party could rise again not through forgetting or changing its targets, but through remembering its targets and be persistent on them. I think some incorrect remarks were issued lately and some names in the candidate lists did not accord with the party's spirit. In order to leave this situation it is essential to see these mistakes and insist on truths.

On the other hand, it should not be

allowed to form a wrong impression of Erdoğan by only looking at some recent remarks. Erdoğan is the leader who took the most concrete and progressive steps for the resolution of the Kurdish question. He is the chief architect of the distance that has been covered on this issue. He took over a Turkey in which even speaking Kurdish was forbidden, people could not name their children Kurdish names and even Kurdish music albums were not allowed to be released. And he turned this country into a one where there are Kurdish TV channels and journals, propaganda in Kurdish can freely be made and Kurdish defense in courts is allowed. Erdoğan reunited Şivan Perver and İbrahim Tatlıses in Diyarbakır, formed good relations with Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani and former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who were seen as enemies until recently, and turned Iraqi Kurdistan nearly into a hinterland. We should not let history be written in the wrong way only because of a few statements.