BY OKAY GONENSIN
VATAN- The voters had two clear options before last week's general elections: The first was Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, and the second was a coalition government of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). People didn't want the second. If we look at the messages that the CHP and MHP gave, we can find the mission people have given to the AKP.
The first mission is social peace. Voters didn't want to hear messages about going into northern Iraq, fighting the world, or hanging. Thus they opposed the possibility of social peace deteriorating, and so told the AKP that the opposite should be done.
The most important thing towards this end is, of course, ending terrorism. The choice of the people leans towards seeking a solution through political means, not through capital punishment or military operations into neighboring countries. Along with this wish lies the AKP's progress in southeastern cities against the Democratic Society Party (DTP), which means that Kurdish citizens also voiced a similar will.
Moreover, a CHP-MHP coalition could have changed the way the economy is being run. One side voiced strident protests against privatization, and the other was against the EU. People also opposed this, showing that they favor economic liberalization and establishing close ties with the world and also favor the EU goal.
Despite its imperfections, the AKP took many steps towards meeting Western economic and legal standards under its first administration. This shows the two missions given to the AKP.
If the AKP attributes the rise in its votes to May's aborted presidential election and the statement by the General Staff, this would be misreading the election.
The AKP and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have now three steps ahead which will show if they've managed to understand the people's wishes or not:
The first is the election of a Parliament speaker, then the formation of a new government, and lastly, of course, the chance to show if lessons have been learned from May's aborted presidential election.
Bringing some experts from out of Parliament into the new government in addition to AKP members will signal how the AKP will rule Turkey in the days to come.
Dangers posed by such election victories and their effects on people were much talked about in recent days. I hope AKP officials don't ignore these dangers.