General elections were held in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 on 6 November 1983, the first since 1977

Turkish general election, 1977

General elections were held in Turkey on 5 June 1977. Elections took place in the middle of a political race between the right wing party AP and the left wing party CHP. With the charismatic leadership of Bülent Ecevit, CHP managed to beat one of the symbol figures of the conservative politics of...

 because the democratic rights were abandoned after the military coup of 1980. The National Security Council

National Security Council (Turkey)

The National Security Council comprises the Chief of Staff, select members of the Council of Ministers, and the President of the Republic...

 banned the previous political partied from participating, leading to the establishment of new parties. Turgut Özal's Motherland Party

Motherland Party (Turkey)

The Motherland Party, was a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. It was merged to Democratic Party in October 2009...

 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

People's Party (Turkey)

- Background :After the coup of 1980, all political parties were closed by the military rule regardless of their political views, on the 16th of October 1981. In 1983, MGK decided to allow the formation of new parties with severe restrictions...

 was the continuation of the former CHP

Republican People's Party (Turkey)

The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...

 and was the only left-wing participant in the election. The Nationalist Democracy Party was founded by the military junta

Military junta

A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...

 of the time, whilst the Motherland Party was seen as the successor of Justice Party

Justice Party (Turkey)

The Justice Party was a Turkish political party prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. A descendant of the Democrat Party, the AP was dominated by Süleyman Demirel, who served six times as prime minister, and was in office at the time of the military coup on September 12, 1980...

 (AP) by some circles but Süleyman Demirel

Süleyman Demirel

Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...

, the leader of AP, would later form DYP to challenge the power of Turgut Özal's Motherland Party.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Motherland Party Motherland Party (Turkey) The Motherland Party, was a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. It was merged to Democratic Party in October 2009...	7,833,148	45.1	211
People's Party People's Party (Turkey) - Background :After the coup of 1980, all political parties were closed by the military rule regardless of their political views, on the 16th of October 1981. In 1983, MGK decided to allow the formation of new parties with severe restrictions...	5,285,804	30.5	189
Nationalist Democracy Party	4,036,970	23.1	71
Independents	195,588	1.1	0
Invalid/blank votes	886,852
Total	18,238,362	100	399
Source: Nohlen et al