Necmettin Erbakan, was a Turkish prime minister from 1996-1997 before he was overthrown in a 1997 military memorandum by the Kemalist military, for "violating secularism." His son, Fatih Erbakan, was an islamist politician from the Islamist "Saadet Partisi" (felicity party) but left recently to form his own party, saying the ideals of the Islamist "Milli Gorus" ideology have been abandoned. Also, former Nationalist Movement Party (MHP, miliyetci hareket partisi) member meral aksener before she was expelled by chairman devlet bahceli for trying, along with others, to hold an intraparty congress to elect a new leader, is gaining support and was one of the key figures, alongisde other ultranationalists as well as leftists and kurdish nationalists, in advocating for a "no vote" for the turkish presidential system which would give president erdogan sweeping new powers. they narrowly lost that election, amid allegations of vote rigging and voter intimidation by pro-yes campaigners, and when erdogan was banned from entering the netherlands to campaign for "yes" as
persona non grata he accused europe of "nazi like tactics" thus leading to an increase in the nationalist vote, however, he still lost 65 percent of the nationalist vote, despite MHP chairman devlet bahceli supporting the system. Meral aksener was seen as a figure who could revitalize the opposition, and it said she will first try to reverse the referendum decision in the courts on june 20, and afterward, consult with her allies as to whether or not to form her own party, and it is said she will wait until septemer or october of this year.
11.4 percent of turks say they would definitely vote for meral aksener, 35.9 percent say "absolutely not" 37.5 percent say maybe, and 15.2 percent say they dont know or are undecided. this was before the referendum, on february 22 (the referendum was on april 16) she has long been accused of being gulenist due to her statement praising them before the coup "I am not from them, i would be proud to say that i was"
there is a 10 perent threshold to gain seats in turkish parliament.
the kemalist military in turkey has a long history of overthrowing governments through coups, such as in 1960 against authoritarian Adnan Menderes, an Islamist who was seeking to align with the soviet union, in 1971 against suleyman demirel during periods of political violence to restore order, and again in 1980 by the infamous Kenan evren, against suleyman demirel, who did a coup to restore order yet again, during a period of political violence and turmoil, which resulted in the drafting of the 1982 constitution which was voted on by 91.35 percent of the people, and exists to his day, albeit with reforms by erdogan. his coup led to him being prime minister for 7 years, 650,000 people being arrested, over a million being placed under investigation, many dying in prison from poor conditions, or torture, others surviving torture, and 50 people being executed (including teens...when asked if this as too harsh, evren replied by saying "would you rather feed him?". my father personally met kenan evren, who told him, "i had to hang one from the right, and one from the left (end of the political spectrum)
Meral Aksener presents herself as a devout sunni muslim, and is seen as someone who could unite Ultranationalists, kemalists, and even disillusioned Islamists
translate the below pages
http://www.internethaber.com/fatih-e...a-1783913h.htm
http://odatv.com/meral-aksenerin-oy-...202171200.html
http://haber.sol.org.tr/toplum/meral...buk-tut-195585
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/04/24/...meral-aksener/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_T...ary_memorandum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necmettin_Erbakan