The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) regained an absolute majority in parliament in a snap election (the previous elections took place in June 2015), jumping from 258 to 317 seats. The main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP, led by Mr. Kemal Kilicdaroglu) took two more seats to win 134 seats. On the contrary, the Nationalist Action Party (MHP, led by Mr. Devlet Bahceli), deemed as a possible coalition partner for the AKP, saw its share reduced by half to 40. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP, led by Mr. Selahattin Demirtas), which entered parliament for the first time in the June elections, took 59 seats, 21 less than in June. The number of women also decreased from a record 98 to 82. 

The snap elections resulted from the failure of coalition talks following the June 2015 elections. On 24 August, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AKP) called fresh elections. Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu, AKP leader and outgoing Prime Minister, led an interim government through to the November elections. It included two HDP MPs, making them the first-ever Kurdish members of the government. 

During the election campaign, the major parties focused on peace and stability, the economy, wages, education and reform of the judiciary. Observers led by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated while the elections "offered voters a variety of choices", the challenging security situation and violent incidents "hindered contestants' ability to campaign freely".