Te Electoral Success of the AKP: Cause for Hope and Despair 107 MENDERES ÇINAR* * Vice President of Institute of European Union and International Relations at Başkent University. Te 2011 elections marked the emergence of the AKP as a political brand that is likely to win all the elections in the foreseeable future. Te party’s overwhelming popularity is linked to its image as the most reliable and trustworthy political party today. Te ambitious democratization promises of the AKP created hopes for a paradigm shif in Turkish politics in the afermath of the elections. However the AKP’s overemphasis on its brand name and its consequent monopolization of the democratization process, excluding Turkey’s other parties, have raised concerns over the fulfllment of a more profoundly democratic participatory system in Turkey. Moreover, the AKP’s adoption of populist rhetoric and stereotypes, which is usually the hallmark of Turkey’s right-wing traditionalist parties, raises further concerns. Finally, the failure of the main opposition CHP to form a coherent platform to challenge the AKP’s monopoly over Turkey’s political scene has contributed to the growing skepticism for a new democratic political paradigm in Turkey. ABSTRACT Insight Turkey Vol. 13 / No. 4 / 2011 pp. 107-127 The Electoral Success of the AKP: Cause for Hope and Despair Introduction It was obvious to almost anyone keeping an eye on Turkish politics that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) would emerge vic- torious from the June 12, 2011 elections in Tur- key. Te actual election results surprised many only because of the margin of the AKP’s vic- tory, for few expected an increase in the AKP’s share of votes for a third consecutive term. Te election results have shown that since the last elections in 2007, the AKP has increased its votes by 3% and reached the threshold of 50%, which in efect meant twice as much support as its closest follower, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Moreover, the AKP’s popular- ity for the frst time since 2002 elections did not seem to involve reaction votes against the infringements of the military-led Kemalist establishment into the political sphere. To the contrary, the AKP seemed to owe a consider- able part of its popularity to the electorate’s retrospective voting approving its past perfor- mance in engaging with the Kemalist establish-