At stake in this election:

• 550 seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Abdullah GUL *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN
• Assembly: Turkey has a unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) with 550 seats.

* Candidates must be members of the Grand National Assembly supported by 20 of its members, or nominees by political parties that have attained more than 10 percent of votes in the last legislative election. Candidates must be 40 years of age and have completed higher education.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) 550 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** There are 79 MMD corresponding to the provinces. Each party must clear a national threshold of 10 percent and at least one D'Hondt quotient in the district from which it is elected. Additionally, a candidate may be seated only if his party is organized in one-third of districts within each of half of the provinces, and has nominated two candidates for each seat in at least half of provinces.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Justice and Development Party / Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP)
  • Leader: Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN
  • Seats won in this election: 327
  • Seats won in last election: 334
• Party: Republican People's Party / Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP)
  • Leader: Kemal KILICDAROGLU
  • Seats won in this election: 135
  • Seats won in last election: 101
• Party: Nationalist Movement Party / Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi (MHP)
  • Leader: Devlet BAHCELI
  • Seats won in this election: 53
  • Seats won in last election: 71
• Party: Democratic Party / Demokrat Parti (DP)
  • Leader: Namık Kemal ZEYBEK
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Independent(s): Independents
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 35
  • Seats won in last election: 26
• Party: Felicity Party / Saadet Partisi (SP)
  • Leader: Mustafa KAMALAK
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Alliance: People's Voice Party / Halkın Sesi Partisi (HAS PARTİ (Pure Party))
  • Leader: Numan KURTULMUS
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Great Union Party / Büyük Birlik Partisi (BBP)
  • Leader: Yalçın TOPCU
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Rights and Equality Party / Hak ve Eşitlik Partisi (HEPAR)
  • Leader: Osman PAMUKOGLU
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Democratic Left Party / Demokratik Sol Parti (DSP)
  • Leader: Masum TURKER
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Communist Party of Turkey / Türkiye Komünist Partisi (TKP)
  • Leader: Erkan BAS
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Nation Party / Millet Partisi (MP)
  • Leader: Aykut EDIBALI
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Nationalist and Conservative Party / Milliyetçi ve Muhafazakâr Parti (MMP)
  • Leader: Ahmet Reyiz YILMAZ
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Labour Party / Emek Partisi (EMEP)
  • Leader: Selma GURKAN
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Liberal Democratic Party / Liberal Demokrat Parti (LDP)
  • Leader: Cem TOKER
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 78,785,548 (July 2010 est.)
• Registered Voters: 52,807,777 (May 2011)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 36,785,807 (2010)

·         Is Turkey a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Turkey ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (20 December 1985)

·         Gender Quota: No (there are some political parties that have adopted voluntary gender quotas)

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 79 (following the 2011 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 72 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Turkey a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Turkey ratified CRPD: Yes (28 September 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 11,817,832 (est.)