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Post-election Erdogan cannot regain power he lost

If Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushes for snap elections, he may be disappointed with the results.
A lottery ticket vendor reads a Turkish newspaper published with an headline reads "downfall" and a portrait of Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey, June 8, 2015. Erdogan will meet Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday to discuss Sunday's election results during which the ruling AK Party lost its parliamentary majority. The elections have ushered in the biggest period of political uncertainty in Turkey since AK Party swept to power 13 years ago. REUTERS/Umit Bektas  - RTX1FM5M

There is a quasi consensus in Turkey that the June 7 parliamentary election results have ended President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s dreams of the executive presidency, introducing an increasingly authoritarian one-man rule. The election results have restrained Erdogan's ambitions and brought optimism that Turkey’s democratic experiment could ultimately be successful. Turkish democracy proved that it is much more resilient than many thought prior to the elections.

Erdogan’s dreams were shattered on June 7, but no sane mind in Turkey ever thought that the president would respect the election results and continue to function within the constitutional limits of his post. According to the Turkish Constitution, the president does not have executive powers. If not all, the overwhelming majority of the observers, including those who know him well, were sure that Erdogan would try to fight back to regain his lost power with an unmistakable survival instinct.

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