Issues and developments during the 2015 Turkish general elections
The following article documents the issues and developments that have formed the basis of the political campaigns and the news agenda in the run-up to the June 2015 general election and the November 2015 general election. Civil liberties The election was held at a time when Turkey's human rights record was facing increased domestic and international scrutiny, particularly from the European Union. The AKP's commitment to human rights has thus also come under doubt, with the governments of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ahmet Davutoğlu both presiding over controversial curbs on civil liberties since 2011. Following proposals to limit rights to protest after the Autumn 2014 Kurdish riots, critics accused the government of turning Turkey into a police state. A long-time ban against headscarves in the civil service was abolished in 2013. A spate of anti-government demonstrations began in May 2013 and continued throughout the year, protesting against Erdoğan's alleged authoritarianism, police brutality, and media censorship. The government responded with what many critics called disproportionate force that claimed the lives of 22 people and injured over 8,000. Images of police using slingshots against protestors, the use of dangerous chemicals in water cannon spray and tear gas, as well as the involvement