At stake in this election:

• 550 seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Suleyman DEMIREL
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Mesut YILMAZ
• Assembly: Turkey has a unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) with 550 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by the National Assembly to serve a 7-year term.
• In the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) 550 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Democratic Left Party (DSP)
  • Leader: Bulent ECEVIT
  • Seats won in this election: 136
  • Seats won in last election: 76
• Party: Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
  • Leader: Devlet BAHCELI
  • Seats won in this election: 129
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Virtue Party (FP)***
  • Leader: Recai KUTAN
  • Seats won in this election: 111
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Motherland Party (ANAP)
  • Leader: Mesut YILMAZ
  • Seats won in this election: 86
  • Seats won in last election: 132
• Party: True Path Party (DYP)
  • Leader: Tansu ILLER
  • Seats won in this election: 85
  • Seats won in last election: 135
• Party: Other parties and independent candidates
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 3
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

*** The Islamic-oriented Virtue Party is the successor to the Welfare Party (RP), which won 158 seats in the last parliametary election.

Last Parliamentary election:

• Parliamentary elections were last held on December 24, 1995.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 64,566,511 (July 1998 est.)
• Registered Voters: 37,495,217 (1999)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population:31,641,947 (1999)

·         Is Turkey a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Turkey ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (20 December 1985)

·         Gender Quota: No (there are some political parties that have adopted voluntary gender quotas)

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 23 (following the 1999 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 72 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Turkey a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Turkey ratified CRPD: Yes (28 September 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 9,684,976 (est.)