Hakkı Taş (2018) Contained Uncertainty: Turkey’s June 2018 Elections and Their Consequences. GIGA Focus Paper, Middle East (4). Hamburg: GIGA. Full Text
Excerpt: Turkey’s presidential and general elections, held on 24 June 2018, marked a significant turn in Turkish politics. The controversial referendum of 2017 narrowly approved constitutional amendments that replaced the parliamentary system with an executive presidential one. With the 2018 presidential vote those amendments took effect, sealing Turkey’s transition into a presidential system. Strategically, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan relied on contained uncertainty, which generated hope among the opposition, gave legitimacy to the elections, and simultaneously perpetuated a sense of despair through the common belief that he would win by any means necessary.
Hakkı Taş 