The election took place amid security concerns after ceasefire negotiations between the government and Kurdistan Workers ' Party ( PKK ) rebels collapsed in July , causing a resumption in separatist conflict in the predominantly Kurdish south-east of the country . Close to 150 security personnel lost their lives in the ensuing conflict , causing tensions between Turkish and Kurdish nationalists and raising security concerns over whether an election could have been peacefully conducted in the south-east , where conditions were described as a ' worsening bloodshed ' by observers . Critics accused the government of deliberately sparking the conflict in order to win back votes it had lost to the Nationalist Movement Party ( MHP ) and decrease the turnout in Peoples ' Democratic Party ( HDP ) strongholds . The election was preceded by the deadliest terrorist attack in Turkey 's modern history , after two suicide bombers killed 102 people attending a peace rally in central Ankara . Numerous political parties , notably the main opposition Republican People 's Party ( CHP ) , ended up either entirely cancelling or significantly toning down their election campaigns following the attack . Fehmi Demir , the leader of the Rights and Freedoms Party ( HAK-PAR ) , was killed in a traffic accident six days before the election
deadliest terrorist attack
2015 Ankara bombings
November 2015 Turkish general election