The Armenian community of Turkey is disappointed with the results of the May 14 elections, according to outgoing Member of Parliament of Turkey Garo Paylan. Paylan, an ethnic Armenian politician from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), represented Diyarbakır in the outgoing parliament. He was not running for parliament again in the May 14 elections because his party’s charter prohibits a politician from doing so for more than two consecutive times. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having formed an alliance with what Paylan described as “nationalists and radicals” succeeded in garnering enough votes to secure a parliamentary majority. According to Paylan, this means that Turkey will become even more nationalistic, while a more nationalistic Turkey will normalize relations with Armenia with greater difficulties. Paylan said the results of the elections didn’t meet the expectations of the Armenian community in Istanbul. |