1977 Turkish general election

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 Turkey, Süleyman Demirel. Voter turnout was 72.4%.

CHP's victory was the zenith of the left wing votes in the history of the Republic of Turkey but still there were no capable partners for CHP to join forces to form the government since the rest of the parliament consisted of right wing parties which were not eager to form a coalition with Bülent Ecevit. Finally, CHP couldn't gain a vote of confidence. They would have to wait until 1978 to gain support from some independents and small parties to become the head of the government. CHP couldn't keep power for long and soon government control passed on to AP even as the rumblings of the military coup were beginning to be felt.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Republican People's Party	6,136,171	41.38	213	+28
Justice Party	5,468,202	36.88	189	+40
National Salvation Party	1,269,918	8.57	24	–24
Nationalist Movement Party	951,544	6.42	16	+13
Independents	370,035	0.2	4	–2
Republican Reliance Party	277,713	1.87	3	–10
Democratic Party	274,484	1.85	1	–44
Unity Party	58,540	0.39	0	–1
Workers Party of Turkey	20,565	0.14	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	531,038	–	–	–
Total	15,358,210	100	450	0
Source: Nohlen et al.