Turkey held historic presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24, 2018 and delivered a clear mandate for stability. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the majority of the votes to become the first president under the new constitutional system.
The new presidential system will help implement further reforms and positively shape the investment climate. The election victory of President Erdoğan and the Justice and Development (AK) Party is good news for foreign investors as they can have confidence in a coherent investment environment and expect more rapid action on structural reforms.
The elections have removed any concerns related to Turkey’s continued stability as President Erdoğan was re-elected with 52.6 percent of the votes in an election that saw record voter turnout of 88 percent, while also positioning Turkey as one of the leading countries globally in terms of democratic participation. Investors can now expect the government to take steps to further increase economic growth, reduce the current deficit, stimulate job creation, and provide a more stable and predictable investment environment.
President Erdoğan addressed the nation from the balcony of the AK Party headquarters in Ankara following the elections and said that the Turkish democracy and 81 million Turkish citizens were the winners of the elections. “We will be working on our promises that we gave to our nation starting from tomorrow. We have not a single moment to lose, and we will start implementing our program immediately,” Erdoğan said.