General elections were held in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

on 6 November 1983, the first since

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

after democratic rights were abandoned after the military coup of 1980. The National Security Council banned the previous political parties from participating, leading to the establishment of new parties. Turgut Özal's Motherland Party (ANAP) won a significant victory in this elections by gaining 45.14% of the votes. This victory was the starting point of a rapid change in the structure of the state and society in Turkey. Voter turnout was 76.6%. The People's Party (HP) was the continuation of the former CHP and was the only left-wing participant in the election. The

Nationalist Democracy Party Nationalist Democracy Party ( tr, Milliyetçi Demokrasi Partisi, MDP) was a former political party in Turkey. Background About one year after the coup of 1980, all political parties were closed by the military regime, or the so-called National ...

was founded by the

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

of the time, whilst the Motherland Party was seen as the successor of the Justice Party (AP) by some circles but Süleyman Demirel, the leader of AP, who would later form the DYP to challenge the power of Turgut Özal's Motherland Party. With a first-ever televised debate on TRT, the elections brought a new factor into the political campaign. Necdet Calp was a long serving politician, Sunalp a high-ranking officer, and both had little to offer to confront Turgut Özal rhetorical skills.

Results

Owing to a registration error in the town of Bingöl, ANAP were unable to take one of the seats they had won there, lowering the total number of MPs in the chamber to 399.

References

{{Turkish elections

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

General elections in Turkey