After losing its majority in a June election, the AKP failed to forge a coalition and, instead, took it to another vote.
It has now won enough seats in parliament to forge a majority rule.
The word "democracy" is resounding on Turkey's crowded streets after what the country's political commentators are calling a "stunning electoral comeback".
The ruling Justice and Development AK Party initially lost its one-party, 13-year rule during an election in June.
That was partly due to a strong showing by the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, or HDP.
After failing to forge a coalition, the AKP opted instead for a fresh poll, and, now, the gamble has paid off.
The party won just below 50 per cent of seats, which will enable it to form a ruling majority in the 515-member parliament.
Addressing jubilant crowds in central Turkey, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has hailed the result as a win for democracy.
"I must thank you and my people. This victory is not ours. This victory belongs to our people. This victory belongs to our neighbours and our citizens. Today's a victory day of our people, thanks to all who contributed to this victory. We, all together, will walk to many victories."
Before the latest vote, Kurdish leaders and the centre-left opposition had warned against letting President RecepTayyip Erdogan rule in an autocracy.
But the AKP countered by saying coalition governments were inherently unstable.
Amid a mood of rising insecurity, the AKP attracted a large percentage of votes away from the country's Nationalist Movement Party.
The main opposition, the Republican People's Party, or CHP, made gains but was overshadowed by the AKP.
CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu says he is bitterly disappointed.
"We increased our votes, but we don't consider this an achievement. Our number of MPs has increased as well, but we don't see ourselves as being successful because our votes increased. The measure of success is coming to power. We will consider this result, including at our general assembly, and we will see what we are going to do."
The pro-Kurdish HDP lost votes after a ceasefire between the Government and Kurdish separatists fell apart.
That led to Turkish forces bombing Kurdish militia positions in Syria, Iraq and Turkey.
The party's co-chair, Selahattin Demirtas, says the HDP simply could not mount a campaign because of the violence.
"With regret, I have to say there wasn't a fair and equal election. We received approximately 11 per cent of the votes without even waging a political campaign in the middle of a red doomsday.* HDP didn't hold a campaign. It couldn't. We only tried to protect our people against massacres."
In Istanbul, Marmara University's Dr Behlul Ozkan says, while the People's Democratic Party was a big winner in June, it is now the precise opposite.
"HDP (People's Democratic Party) is one of the biggest losers of this election, and it lost about 20 per cent of its votes. And the Kurds clearly said that -- they gave this message -- they want peace and security, because the two-and-a-half-year ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish state ended after the June election and more than 700 people died during conflict. And a significant number of Kurdish voters switched from the HDP to the AKP."
Despite it being a shocking comeback for the AKP, at Deakin University in Melbourne, Turkish-affairs expert William Gourlay says the party's powers will still be limited.
"They have the majority, but they won't have the supermajority that they were hoping, or that Erdogan was hoping, which would allow them to alter the constitution and then bring about the executive presidency which Erdogan has been pushing for for some time and which he campaigned on very strongly. I mean, it's definitely a victory for them in that they've come back from only 40 per cent of the vote. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out now."
Angry with the election result, Kurdish supporters clashed with police in the country's south-east.
Water cannon and tear gas had to be used to disperse the crowd.
Many Turkish citizens said they were fed up with conflict.
Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop has told Sky News she now wants to see a more secure region following the election.
"What we want in Australia is to ensure that there is greater stability in the Middle East, North Africa, in this part of the world. Turkey is an important stakeholder. Turkey's obviously on the border with the conflict areas in Syria. There's conflict in Iraq. So we want to see greater political stability in Turkey and the greater sense of security in that part of the world, and we hope that this election result will add to that."
Share
