2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Local government reform
The following table shows the numbers of metropolitan and district municipalities, as well as provincial and municipal councillors elected in 2009 and in 2014. In local elections, municipal mayors and councilors are the only partisan officials elected.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, 2013–2014 anti-government protests
In 2013, a spate of anti-government protests and counter measures took place. The 2014 local elections are the first elections since the protests, and have thus been seen as a test for the government's popularity following a criticism both domestically and internationally for what was perceived to be a crackdown on peaceful protestors. The controversy surrounding the police response resulted in Germany seeking to delay European Union accession talks with Turkey.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, 17 December corruption scandal
On 17 December 2013, police arrested several close associates and family members of government ministers as part of a corruption investigation. Prime Minister Erdoğan responded by either dismissing or reassigning thousands of police and judicial personnel while denying all allegations of wrongdoing.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, 17 December corruption scandal
A string of recorded phone calls between government ministers and close supporters allegedly discussing corruption were made public following the start of the corruption scandal. On 24 February 2014, a 10-minute phone call between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his son Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan were made public, in which the Prime Minister was warning his son of police searches in other government ministers' residences and telling him to "nullify" any cash which might be stored in their own. The tape caused particular damnation, after which CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu advised the Prime Minister to "flee by helicopter."


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, 17 December corruption scandal
The Prime Minister responded by calling the tape a "montage," though this claim could not be verified by the national scientific development agency TÜBİTAK. It was reported that six people were removed from their roles at TÜBİTAK for refusing to falsify the recording, with one reporting that he was openly asked by superiors to manipulate reports related to the recordings.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, 17 December corruption scandal
Following the release, thousands took to the streets demanding the government's resignation. Protesters threw fake money in the air and also left empty shoe boxes near AKP offices, symbolising the US$4.5 million found stuffed into shoe-boxes at the home of Halkbank's former manager Süleyman Aslan Though protests were not as large as the June 2013 Gezi protests, the police were again criticised for a brutal crackdown.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Judiciary, Internet & MİT laws
The government responded to the tape revelations by pushing through three controversial laws which would tighten the AKP's grip on the judiciary, allow greater control over internet access, and increase the powers of Turkey's intelligence services (MİT). While some saw these laws as necessary to restore peace throughout the country and increase internet safety, the opposition accused the government for openly attempting to increase their powers in order to further defame the rule of law. Regardless, the AKP's sizeable parliamentary majority led to all laws being passed by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The laws also caused a rift between Prime Minister Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül, who criticised some aspects of the laws. Regardless of their differences, the President signed the bills into law despite speculation that he might veto them.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Judiciary, Internet & MİT laws
The new laws drew criticism from the public, with several demonstrators taking to the streets accusing the government of encroachments against their rights and privacy. Protestors again clashed with police, though the protests failed to materialise back to June 2013 levels.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Twitter and YouTube bans
On 20 March 2014, ten days before the elections, Prime Minister Erdoğan threatened to "wipe out" Twitter during an election rally in Bursa. Thousands of Turkish web users found that they could not access the site hours after the speech, with the government claiming that Twitter had failed repeatedly to adhere to Turkish court orders requiring the removal of some links. Despite causing outrage, the Twitter ban was almost completely overcome by users simply changing DNS settings. The government retaliated just a few days before the elections by blocking Google's DNS service, making defiance more difficult. Regardless, #erdoganblockedtwitter, #twitterisblockedinturkey and #turkeyblockedtwitter began trending worldwide soon after news of the ban was made public.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Twitter and YouTube bans
On 21 March 2014, Ankara's Attorney General issued a statement denying the government's claims that they had a court order validating the ban on Twitter. The ban's practical failure and its violation of internet freedoms received criticism, and the US House of Representatives was presented with two resolutions condemning the Turkish government for blocking Twitter and YouTube. On 2 April, 3 days after the elections, the Turkish Constitutional Court issued a verdict annulling the Twitter ban for its violation of Article 26 (Freedom of Expression) of the Turkish Constitution.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Twitter and YouTube bans
On 28 March 2014, the telecommunications regulator (TİB) made use of the government's new controversial internet law by blocking YouTube without court order. The ban occurred shortly after the release and placing on YouTube of a recorded conversation allegedly between the deputy armed forces chief of staff Yaşar Güler, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Foreign Ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Ministry of Intelligence Undersecretary Hakan Fidan. In the conversation, Fidan was allegedly recorded considering a deliberate act of military aggression against Syria in order to spark a war. While not confirming the validity of the recording, Prime Minister Erdoğan claimed that the making of the recording was "treacherous," and that YouTube had subsequently been blocked due to concerns for national security.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
In the lead-up to elections, both the ruling AKP and opposition parties warned that preparations for substantial electoral fraud were being taken.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
In December 2013, it emerged that several voters had been made members of different political parties without their approval in an attempt to bolster support without their consent. Voters affected appealed to the Prosecutor General's office after it emerged that their details had been used to register them.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
On 29 February 2014, a recording of a phone call between Ankara metropolitan mayor Melih Gökçek and the Prime Minister's secretary Mustafa Varank allegedly depicted both agreeing to censor the opposition CHP's election posters. The recording has not yet been proven to be either legitimate or fake.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
Concerns were raised in Ankara as CHP metropolitan mayoral candidate Mansur Yavaş claimed that there were 58,000 duplicate records in Ankara alone that would allow select voters to vote twice. He also announced that his election team would do everything to prevent such manipulation. The MHP candidate Mevlüt Karakaya also called for voters and ballot officials to remain vigilant. Meanwhile, the incumbent AKP candidate Melih Gökçek accused "marginal groups" of plotting to rig the elections, blaming them for the AKP's losses in Ankara's Yenimahalle, Etimesgut and Gölbaşı districts in the 2009 elections. The provisional results in Ankara, which initially showed a 0.9% lead for the AKP, were widely criticised by the opposition and caused a massive recounting campaign by the CHP.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
Turkish Newspaper Cumhuriyet claimed that the Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey (YSK) had printed 141,654,161 ballot papers despite an electorate formed of 52,695,831 voters. Some sources, including the YSK itself, put the number of ballot papers printed to between 144 and 151 million. The YSK responded by defending its decision, saying that it was required by law to send 15% more ballot papers extra to each ballot box. The YSK also re-iterated that more than one ballot paper was required per voter since different ballots were used to elect municipal mayors, muhtars and city councils. Nevertheless, members of the opposition raised concern on how the extra ballot papers would be utilised, with MHP MPs warning that the spare ballot papers would be used by the PKK to increase the votes of the pro-Kurdish BDP in the south-east.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
Several controversies following the distribution of ballot papers to voter's residences before the elections raised concern about the validity of the YSK's voter records. Upon receiving extra ballot papers, several families complained to the YSK, claiming to have received more ballot papers than necessary. It was also observed that dead citizens were on the electoral roll, and several ballot papers had been sent to persons who had been dead for a considerable amount of time or false addresses which did not exist.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
On 15 March 2014, Ankara's AKP mayor Melih Gökçek spoke on live television regarding the possible use of Chinese temporary tattoo pens whilst recording the results from each ballot box. This would allegedly mean that some results would completely disappear shortly after being recorded, allowing "some groups" to edit the numbers while transporting the ballot result papers to the YSK. The opposition CHP candidate Mansur Yavaş replied by calling the mayor "paranoid," adding that he was a "mayor from the ruling party. Rather than announcing these allegations on television, he should be taking legal action."


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
On 29 March 2014, the police received a tip-off that large numbers of fake ballot papers were being stored at a printing press in the district of Gaziemir in Izmir. Despite conducting a detailed search of the compound, the police failed to find any fake votes. Despite reports by several news agencies, the allegations that a van full of ballot papers with a pre-printed "yes" vote for the AKP was impounded on in Izmir's Çınarlı district could not be verified due to a similar situation being reported before the 2011 general elections.


2014 Turkish local elections, Background, Pre-election rigging controversies
Another debate was on the voting rights of the 250,000 Syrian refugees living in Turkey due to the Syrian Civil War. The controversy began in late 2013 after the CHP's deputy leader Gürsel Tekin claimed that several refugees had been registered on the electoral roll. The Ministry of the Interior responded by stating that a non-citizen within Turkey had to wait five years before being eligible to vote. However, it emerged that several Syrian refugees had been made Turkish citizens already. While the opposition claimed that Syrian votes would be used to bolster AKP support due to their lax border policies, the government and the Association for Solidarity with Refugees denied these claims. Nevertheless, three Syrians were caught attempting to cast votes during the elections.


2014 Turkish local elections, Parties
The incumbent national party is the Justice and Development Party (AKP), and its principal opposition parties are the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is a Kurdish party; the new left wing party, the Peoples' Democratic Party, is allied with it.


2014 Turkish local elections, Campaign
Large-scale election rallies dominated the pre-election political scene, mostly being held by the governing AKP and the main opposition CHP.


2014 Turkish local elections, Conduct
About 50 million people were eligible to vote in 1379 electoral sees. On election day, violence resulted in eight deaths. The Doğan news agency reported six deaths and four injuries in the village of Yuvacık in Şanlıurfa. It also reported that in Hatay rival families fought with clubs, knives and guns in support of their respective candidates resulting in two deaths and nine injuries. In the early hours of 31 March, 1,418 claims of electoral fraud were reported. Power cuts during the counting process in some provinces, as well as the publication of widely different results by different news agencies, also caused controversy.


2014 Turkish local elections, Results
Below are the results for the elected councillors and municipal mayors. The number of councillor and mayoral positions up for election in 2014 vary widely in comparison to 2009 (See the local government reform section or 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation). For this reason, the changes per party in terms of officials elected between 2009 and 2014 are not representative of party performance.


2014 Turkish local elections, Results
Rather, the change in proportion of officials held per party is a more accurate comparison between party performances since 2009, however it should also be taken into account that the abolition or introduction of several elected officials in certain areas where particular parties are the strongest has also led to disproportionate changes.


2014 Turkish local elections, Results, Results by province
The following results show winners by province as of 1 April 2014. Metropolitan provinces are in bold. AKP denotes provinces won by the Justice & Development Party, CHP denotes provinces won by the Republican People's Party, MHP denotes provinces won by the Nationalist Movement Party and BDP denotes provinces won by the Peace and Democracy Party.


2014 Turkish local elections, Results, Complaints & recounts
Provisional results in several districts were contested by all major parties, including the governing AKP, claiming misconduct during the counting process and thus demanding a recount. Applications for recounts were made to the YSK shortly after the elections concluded. Turkey's Constitutional Court has rejected an individual application filed by Mansur Yavaş, the Republican People's Party's (CHP) candidate for mayor in Ankara.


2014 Turkish local elections, Detailed results by province, Metropolitan municipalities
The following articles document the results within the three main provinces of Turkey.


2014 Turkish presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Turkey on 10 August 2014 in order to elect the 12th President. Incumbent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected outright with an absolute majority of the vote in the first round, making a scheduled run-off for 24 August unnecessary.


2014 Turkish presidential election
The election took place under reforms resulting from the 2007 constitutional referendum, which introduced a direct national vote, rather than election by members of the parliament. Over 55 million people were eligible to vote, both within Turkey and abroad.


2014 Turkish presidential election
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the AKP, first elected Prime Minister in 2002, won with 51.79% of the vote. Former Organisation of Islamic Cooperation General Secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, who ran as the joint candidate of 13 opposition parties including the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), came second with 38.44%. The co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş, who received the backing of 8 left-wing parties, came third with 9.76%.


2014 Turkish presidential election
Erdoğan took over as president from Abdullah Gül on 28 August, while Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was elected leader of the AKP, succeeded Erdoğan as Prime Minister on the same date. It has been speculated that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his political agenda as president while Davutoğlu takes a docile approach as Prime Minister, breaking away from the ceremonial and neutral functions of the Presidency and potentially pursuing constitutional changes to turn Turkey into a presidential or semi-presidential system.


2014 Turkish presidential election
The election was criticised by both the political opposition and international observers for alleged media bias in favour of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, corruption allegations, the inaccuracy of opinion polls and the misuse of official public resources during Erdoğan's campaign. While praising the authorities for safeguarding the right to assembly as well as the peaceful electoral conduct, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) voiced concerns over the unequal distribution of campaign resources and media intimidation.


2014 Turkish presidential election
The historic 12-year low turnout of 74.13%, attributed to the fact that the election was held in summer while many citizens were on holiday, was seen by many politicians such as MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli as a significant factor in affecting the outcome. The election loss for the opposition CHP resulted in its leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu taking the decision to hold a party convention with a leadership election in response to growing dissatisfaction against his electoral performance.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Background
The Law on Presidential Elections accepted and put into effect on 20 January 2012 decided that presidential elections will be held in 2014 instead of 2012; within 60 days before the end of the seven-year term of incumbent President of Turkey Abdullah Gül, who will be the last indirectly elected President of Turkey. As Gül took office on 28 August 2007, the first possible day could be 29 June, but a date between 10 and 17 August is considered more reasonable.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Background
It was decided in the same law that former presidents Kenan Evren, Süleyman Demirel, Ahmet Necdet Sezer and incumbent Abdullah Gül could not be nominated for a second term, but this was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Turkey, allowing them to run for a second term. Also, the Prime Minister of Turkey could be nominated for the presidency without having to resign from his post.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Background
The presidential-election campaigns were declared to be held in an "American manner", where candidates could accept personal donations for their campaigns; however, one person could not donate more than 8,259 TL (approximately US$4,500) to a campaign.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates
Three candidates were nominated to participate in the election. A more detailed list of parties that endorsed them can be found in the "List of parties by presidential candidates" section.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, serving leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) since 2001 and Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003, received 311 nominations.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates
Selahattin Demirtaş, co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), received 30 nominations.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Parliamentary nomination process
To run for election, a candidate needs to be nominated by at least 20 Members of Parliament in the Grand National Assembly, which constitutes to 3.73% of all sitting members. The parties represented in parliament are the AKP, CHP, MHP, HDP, DBP and 14 independents, meaning that smaller parties such as the Felicity Party (SP) and the Great Union Party (BBP) could not nominate their own candidates due to the lack of parliamentary representation. Three candidates obtained sufficient endorsements from parliament in order to register with the Supreme Electoral Council.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Parliamentary nomination process
The Electoral Council forbids any potential candidate from nominating themselves, since this would give unfair advantage to prospective candidates who were sitting Members of Parliament. The AKP began collecting signatures for an unnamed candidate from all 311 eligible MPs out of their 312-seat total, with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan being the only MP to not sign. Due to the debate on whether the CHP's candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu adhered to secular and Kemalist principles, 21 CHP MPs boycotted the nomination process.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Parliamentary nomination process
Six CHP MPs protested their leader's choice of candidate by attempting to nominate Emine Ülker Tarhan instead, though she herself stated that she would not stand as a candidate. Out of the 14 independent MPs, three supported İhsanoğlu while two supported Demirtaş, with the remaining 9 boycotting the process altogether. Only 536 seats out of the 550 are occupied, with many vacant MPs having resigned or serving prison sentences due to their roles in the PKK, or the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon coup trials.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Parliamentary nomination process
a Lists parties with parliamentary representation onlyb Number of MPs from the parties that support these candidates, discounting independents c Was named the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), changed its name after the electiond Emine Ülker Tarhan publicly stated that she did not want to stand as a candidate, but received nominations from CHP MPs opposed to İhsanoğlu


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Parliamentary nomination process
21 Members of Parliament from the CHP, including former leader Deniz Baykal as well as potential presidential candidate Emine Ülker Tarhan, boycotted the nomination process.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Turkish and international media speculated that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would almost certainly be the AKP's candidate for the Presidency. This was proven correct on 1 July when Erdoğan's candidacy was announced. Abdullah Gül, the outgoing President of Turkey elected in 2007 caused media speculation regarding a potential candidacy in January 2014. He announced that he would not stand on 29 June 2014. A full list of possible AKP candidates which at one point showed intentions of running for election is as follows.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the AKP (2001-2014) and Prime Minister of Turkey (2003-2014).


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister of Turkey (2002-2003), President of Turkey (2007-2014).


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Bülent Arınç, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (2009-2015) and Speaker of Parliament (2002-2007).


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
The two main opposition parties, the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) had both expressed interest in fielding a joint candidate after the March 2014 local elections. In an unofficial vote of CHP MPs, Eskişehir mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen was seen as a potential forerunner. A list of potential candidates which had expressed interest in running, or had been recommended as a candidate of the CHP or its parliamentary sister party DSP (Democratic Left Party) is as follows.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, former Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, recommended by Kemal Derviş.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Kemal Derviş, former economy minister and United Nations Development Program Administrator.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
İlker Başbuğ, former Chief of the General Staff of Turkey, released from prison in March 2014.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Former leader of the CHP, Member of Parliament for Antalya


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Metin Feyzioğlu, 8th and current President of the Turkish Bars Association


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Hikmet Çetin, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, parliamentary speaker and CHP leader, recommended by Mustafa Sarıgül.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Ümit Nazlı Boyner, former President of Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD).


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Mehmet Bekaroğlu, human rights activist, academic and former Welfare Party MP, recommended by CHP MP Muharrem İnce.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Mehmet Haberal, CHP Zonguldak MP, surgeon and founder of Başkent University.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Orhan Pamuk, novelist, screenwriter, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Rıza Türmen, former judge of the European Court of Human Rights


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Abdüllatif Şener, former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and founder of the Turkey Party


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
Prior to joint attempts by the CHP and MHP to nominate a single candidate, the following list contains Nationalist Movement Party politicians who were speculated to be potential MHP presidential candidates, as well as the final agreed candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, former Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, recommended by Kemal Derviş.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
Abdullah Gül  - 24th Prime Minister of Turkey and 11th President of Turkey


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)
The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) nominated co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş as their presidential candidate on 30 June 2014. Figen Yüksekdağ, the HDP's other co-leader, was also seen as a potential candidate especially since the party was a strong supporter of women's and minority rights.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Official candidates, Candidate selection, Others
Masum Türker, leader and declared candidate of the Democratic Left Party (DSP)


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns
The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey declared that the campaigning for the first round of the election would take place between 11 July and 9 August. For the run-off planned for 24 August, campaigning would have taken place between 11 and 23 August. The campaigns of all three candidates centred mainly on the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, the peace process with PKK rebels, the Gezi Park protests and 17 December 2013 government corruption scandal.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Erdoğan campaign
Incumbent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formally announced his candidacy for the Presidency on 1 July 2014 in a speech that lasted just over an hour. Speculation that he would be the AKP's candidate was widespread long before the announcement. On the same day, the Erdoğan logo was unveiled, and received criticism for bearing resemblance to the Obama 2008 presidential election campaign logo, as well as the Holiday Place logo.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Erdoğan campaign
A tweet from the finance minister, Mehmet Şimşek, which claimed that the logo has Arabic calligraphy of the Prophet Muhammad's name also sparked debate over the use of religion in the political campaign. Erdoğan's campaign slogan is "Milli İrade, Milli Güç, Hedef 2023" (National Will, National Strength, Target 2023). On 11 July, Erdoğan unveiled a new campaign song and slogan, "Yeni Türkiye Yolunda Demokrasi, Refah, İtibar" (Democracy, Prosperity and Prestige on the Road to a New Turkey).


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Erdoğan campaign
Erdoğan's campaign has been dominated by electoral rallies, beginning in Samsun on 5 July and then moving to Erzurum, mimicking Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's route which he took at the start of the Turkish War of Independence. His rally speeches mainly centred on his achievements as Prime Minister and also contained frequent attacks on both the opposition as well as Fethullah Gülen, the leader of the Hizmet Movement living in Pennsylvania.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Erdoğan campaign
During his Hatay rally on 21 July, he accused Gülen of not speaking out on behalf of the Palestinians in Gaza and accused Israel of "following in the footsteps of Hitler". During his Kahramanmaraş rally on 1 August, he claimed that the opposition CHP was supporting Israel during the Gaza crisis.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Erdoğan campaign
During his electoral rally in Van, Erdoğan attacked his rival Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu for allegedly mistaking the Independence March, the Turkish National Anthem, for a poem composed for the fallen soldiers at Çanakkale during the Gallipoli Campaign. In his Kahramanmaraş rally on 1 August, he showed the crowd a video of İhsanoğlu misreading the Independence March.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Erdoğan campaign
In addition to his electoral rallies, AKP activists have also launched a door-to-door operation in order to gather support by delivering food, clothing and other items to families. According to the OSCE, the Erdoğan campaign has also organised iftar tents during the month of Ramadan and has distributed toys and women's scarves at electoral rallies. On 15 July 2014, the government began a huge distribution of free coal to families in İzmir.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Erdoğan campaign
On 9 August, Erdoğan announced that he had received 1,350,796 donations, totaling ₺55,260,798 (approximately US$25,560,037). The scale of the donations and their magnitude in comparison with the other two candidates' funds resulted in several allegations of fraud being made by the political opposition.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, İhsanoğlu campaign
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu was announced as the joint candidate of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on 16 June 2014. The decision drew criticism from many CHP supporters due to his former role as Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which some members of the CHP saw as an organisation which lacked secular and Kemalist credentials. An opinion poll on show of 23 Juneed that only 32% of CHP supporters were happy with their party's choice of candidate, compared to 75% of MHP supporters.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, İhsanoğlu campaign
Meanwhile, 68% of CHP supporters were dissatisfied with the decision, compared to only 25% of MHP supporters. In response to the controversy over his secular credentials, İhsanoğlu stated on 26 June that he thought of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as a "national hero" and that he had defended secularism in many of his books. On 4 July, he stated that he is "not an enemy of Atatürk," and that "incorporating religion into politics will lead to trouble." Former CHP leader Deniz Baykal, who was seen as a potential CHP nominee, criticised İhsanoğlu's candidacy, stating that the CHP and MHP should have held a vote amongst their members to choose a candidate.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, İhsanoğlu campaign
Controversy arose over the allegations that İhsanoğlu had been a potential AKP candidate in the 2007 presidential election if Abdullah Gül was unable to win parliamentary approval. However, Gül was elected president with the help of the Nationalist Movement Party. İhsanoğlu himself stated that he had been on friendly terms with Erdoğan. He visited the serving President Abdullah Gül on 3 July.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, İhsanoğlu campaign
On 7 July, İhsanoğlu stated that he would not base his campaign on election rallies, stating, "how right is it to force people outside under the heat in this holy month of Ramadan? When are we going to hold the rallies, before sahur or after iftar? We are visiting our provinces and districts, meeting local leaders and visiting our people." He also expressed his wish to hold a live televised debate with Erdoğan. Following the conclusion of Ramadan, İhsanoğlu held his first election rally in Hatay on 2 August, reiterating his support for state secularism. İhsanoğlu's campaign slogan is "Ekmek için Ekmeleddin" (Ekmeleddin for bread), other slogans which will be used for the campaign include "Ekmeleddin to cultivate love, to cultivate prosperity and for bread." "Ekmek" means "to cultivate" at the same time.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, İhsanoğlu campaign
Following Erdoğan's accusation that İhsanoğlu did not know the Independence March, İhsanoğlu responded by saying that since the author of the March, Mehmet Akif Ersoy was the best friend of his father, he had already learnt the anthem as a baby. In a statement, he claimed that the video that Erdoğan showed during his Kahramanmaraş rally was "doctored," and that he had "translated this unrivalled piece into Arabic, how is it possible that I wouldn't know it?" On 2 August, the pro-opposition newspaper Sözcü published footage of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself misreading the Independence March.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, İhsanoğlu campaign
On 16 July, İhsanoğlu visited the Palestinian embassy in Ankara, denying reports that he had said on 4 July that Turkey should remain "neutral" in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. In a statement, he said that "I have never advocated Turkish neutrality. You cannot be neutral between the cruel and the oppressed." On 19 July, he stated that Palestine should take their case to the International Criminal Court.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, İhsanoğlu campaign
In his vision, İhsanoğlu vowed to protect democracy, the rule of law, the separation of powers, the principles of Atatürk and national unity. He also advocated waiving the debts of Turkey's poorest citizens. He further stressed the need for greater involvement of non-governmental organisations as well as local authorities in the decision making process in order to strengthen democracy. In addition, he stresses the importance of environmental protection, greater rights to women and educational assistance to the nation's poorest children in order to turn Turkey into a "nation of knowledge" such as South Korea. İhsanoğlu states that because he is not the candidate of a single party, he would be able to solve national tensions between the opposition and government as well as bring about peace and stability to both Turkey and to the world through foreign policy.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, İhsanoğlu campaign
On 9 August, İhsanoğlu announced that he had received a total of ₺8.5 million (approximately US$3.93 million) in donations to his campaign.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Demirtaş campaign
Selahattin Demirtaş was announced as a candidate for the Presidency on 30 June. In a campaign dominated by the peace process with Kurdish rebels, he claimed on 5 August in Van that the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had not done enough to bring forward promised legislation, and that the process would collapse immediately if the AKP did not do more to bring lasting peace in the southeast. He is the co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), serving alongside Figen Yüksekdağ.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Demirtaş campaign
On 15 July, Demirtaş outlined his road-map for his presidency should he win the election. In a speech lasting just under an hour, he proposed that the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) should be disbanded, that compulsory religion lessons in schools should be removed and that Cemevis (the Alevi houses of worship) should receive national recognition. He also proposed the introduction of "People's Parliaments" (Cumhur meclisleri), which would also incorporate Youth Parliaments to increase representation of young citizens.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Demirtaş campaign
Pushing for a new constitution, Demirtaş outlined the need to end the non-representation of different cultures, languages, races and beliefs without delay to ensure national stability. Also in his speech, he praised the Gezi Park protests and displayed photos of himself during the events. He continued to direct applause to the mother of the murdered teenager Berkin Elvan, who died 269 days after being hit by a tear gas canister during the protests and falling into a coma.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Demirtaş campaign
On the issue of the lack of Turkish flags within the hall in which he was delivering his speech, Demirtaş stated that the Turkish flag represented all citizens of Turkey. His slogan is "Bir Cumhurbaşkanı Düşün" (Imagine a President...), which is followed by several different phrases, such as "Bir Cumhurbaşkanı Düşünün Ayrımcılık yapmıyor. Birleştiriyor, barıştırıyor." (Imagine a President who doesn't Discriminate, who Unites and makes Peace) or "Bir Cumhurbaşkanı Düşünün Herkese Demokrat" (Imagine a President who is Democratic to Everybody).


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Demirtaş campaign
On 18 July, Demirtaş visited Paris, France, and laid flowers at the scene where three Kurdish activists were shot dead on 9 January 2013.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Campaigns, Demirtaş campaign
On 9 August, Demirtaş announced that he had received approximately ₺1,213,000 (US$561,055) in donations.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Constitutional issues
Upon the announcement of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's candidacy, the CHP, LDP and MHP contested his refusal to resign as Prime Minister during the campaign. The case was taken to the Supreme Electoral Council by both the MHP and Mahmut Tanal, a CHP MP from İstanbul on 9 July. In a press statement, Tanal also attributed the case to the alleged incompatibility of Erdoğan's ideologies and the history of his premiership to the office of the Presidency and referred to the 2008 judicial verdict which curbed the AKP's state funding due to the "violations of democratic and secular principles." The Constitutional Court affirmed Erdoğan's eligibility to remain as Prime Minister while standing as a presidential candidate on 24 July.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Misuse of public funds
In a report released by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on 31 July, Erdoğan was criticised for the alleged use of public funds to finance his campaign. In addition to the distribution of free coal in İzmir, the OSCE also noted that the campaign had begun an excessive distribution of food, clothing, toys, cups, mouse mats and scarves both at election rallies and during door-to-door canvassing. Both the rival candidates and the OSCE have called for greater transparency regarding the financing of Erdoğan's campaign, and the latter has decided to send a delegation to monitor the elections on 10 August.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Misuse of public funds
Further accusation over the use of public resources in Erdoğan's campaign have been fueled by opposition journalists, who have accused Erdoğan of using a fake license plates to disguise his use of an official car during his campaign. Journalists have also drawn attention to the alleged use of official helicopters and planes by the Prime Minister to fly between election rally destinations, despite the requirement by law which restricts the use of such transport for official duties only.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Misuse of public funds
Following the accusations, a CHP MP from İstanbul, Umut Oran, brought claims of the misuse of public resources before the Supreme Electoral Council and requested an audit into donations to Erdoğan's campaign. In response to the claims that Erdoğan used fake license plates, the Turkish Prime Ministry issued a statement on 1 August stating that all four cars used by Erdoğan during the campaign had been rented, and that one license plate (06 BV 8534) which had been accused of being fake had been accidentally misprinted and was in fact 06 BV 8543.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Misuse of public funds
On 6 August, it emerged that the Ministry of National Education (MEB) had printed an exam revision guide which included Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the list of Turkish presidents four days before the election took place. The leader of the guide's distributor, Ahmet Gündoğdu, stated that "this is a known outcome. Even if he doesn't win on the first round, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will definitely win on the second. If he doesn't, we'll only have misprinted the questions – but he will."


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Misuse of public funds
On the same day, the MEB issued a formal statement which denied the claims that they had assumed the election result before it had taken place, stating that the book in question was in fact a book about Atatürk's principles and history, and that no changes had been made to it since 2008.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Media bias
On 1 August, several online newspapers reported that the Anatolian Agency had used what seemed to be pre-determined election results while doing a practice run for their election night coverage. Leaked images of teleprompter text allegedly showed the Anatolian Agency using pre-determined election turnouts and results which placed Recep Tayyip Erdoğan firmly in first place in six provinces, with 73% in Bartın, 82% in Rize, 80% in Gümüşhane, 70% in Kahramanmaraş, 75% in Konya and 80% in Isparta. However, the authenticity of the leaked images have not been verified and newspapers which reported the news did not name a source.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Media bias
The British Newspaper The Times claimed that between 2 and 4 July, the state-owned media channel TRT gave 204 minutes of coverage to Erdoğan's campaign and less than a total of 3 minutes to both his rivals.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Media bias
The OSCE drew attention to the fact that Erdoğan used the opening of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway on 25 July to promote his candidacy, and has criticised the "limited public visibility of the other candidates" in contrast to Erdoğan's huge and widely broadcast electoral rallies.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Media bias
Erdoğan was internationally criticised when he called Amberin Zaman from The Economist a 'shameless militant' and told her to 'know her place' on 8 August.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Overprinting of ballot papers
The Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey (YSK) repeated its highly controversial decision which it initially took in the local elections to print a substantial amount of ballot papers more than necessary, totalling 75,708,180. It was reported that the YSK had printed 18 million more ballot papers more than the total number of registered voters. The YSK responded to questions regarding its decision by stating that it was required by law to print extra ballot papers.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Overprinting of ballot papers
The YSK president Sadi Güven also stated that the uncertainty of how many people would vote at customs gates was also a factor behind the decision to send a disproportionately large number of ballot papers to national borders. However, the OSCE stated that there was no legal basis for printing such a large amount of ballot papers.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Overprinting of ballot papers
Presidential candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu raised concern over the high number of spare ballot papers, stating that "of course some might go to waste in rain, mud or a flood, but what does printing 18 million mean? How, for whom, are these ballot papers going to be used, and how will it be ensured that they will not fall into the wrong hands?" In retaliation, Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah İşler claimed that the opposition was trying to cover up its poor standing in the opinion polls.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Donations
The substantially larger amount of donations received by Erdoğan resulted in the political opposition requesting an audit into all donations made to his campaign. On 6 August, a CHP Member of Parliament from Konya, Atilla Kart, claimed that the Konya Industrial Board had begun a fundraising campaign for Erdoğan, placing the nature of donations, their source and their transparency under scrutiny.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Campaigning irregularities
Controversy surrounded the role and use of the Turkish flag by the candidates for their election campaigns. The Supreme Electoral Council had controversially regulated its use previously for the local elections. In İhsanoğlu's earlier election adverts, subtitles notified viewers that they had been banned from including the Turkish flag in the advert by the Electoral Council.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Campaigning irregularities
The use of religion in the campaigns also fuelled controversy. Erdoğan's campaign logo, which had already generated controversy due to its resemblance of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign logo, had been claimed to have Arabic calligraphy of the Prophet Muhammad's name by the finance minister Mehmet Şimşek. On 5 August, the Supreme Electoral Council banned an Erdoğan campaign advertisement on the grounds that it "abused religious feelings by depicting the Azan, a prayer mat and a woman performing Namaz."


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Campaigning irregularities
On 7 August, it was reported that security forces prevented citizens attending Erdoğan's Gaziantep rally from leaving early. One person was detained at the scene.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Voter data irregularities
On 8 August, a voter from Didim, Aydın claimed that four unknown voters were recorded to have been living in his household according to the Supreme Electoral Council. The lack of up-to-date voter data, which listed dead persons as voters as well as addresses that did not exist had previously resulted in huge controversy in the 2014 local elections.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Election day
Presidential candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu expressed his concern about voters taking pictures of ballot papers on polling day. Despite this, the OSCE and other international observers praised the peaceful voting and counting process.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Google Doodle
On the day of the election, Google changed their logo on the Turkish version of the search engine to represent the election. The second 'g' in 'Google' was changed to a ballot box with a Turkish flag, with a ballot being cast. The doodle generated controversy since the ballot was shown to have three options with the final option ticked. The format of the doodle had been used before to represent the 2014 European Parliament election, but generated criticism since the presidential election actually had three candidates.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Google Doodle
Since Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu was the third candidate on the actual ballot paper, the doodle was seen by some as an endorsement of İhsanoğlu. However, Republican People's Party (CHP) politicians also criticised the doodle since it could also be interpreted as an endorsement for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in that the doodle's ballot paper turned landscape (similar to the actual ballot paper) actually shows a vote for Erdoğan in the first row.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Controversies, Google Doodle
Following a complaint by the CHP to the Supreme Electoral Council, the council decided that the logo should be removed for depicting a vote for a certain candidate.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Opinion polls
Opinion polls in Turkey are highly controversial since several of them have links with political establishments, thus making them heavily subject to bias in some cases. SONAR and Gezici are known to be close with the opposition CHP, while POLLMARK and ANAR are associated with the AKP. A&G is a polling company from social democratic origins, however its ownership is heavily critical of the CHP and MHP.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Opinion polls
Despite their political affiliations both in favour and against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, all opinion polls conducted throughout the campaigning process put Erdoğan in the lead by wide margins. This even included a poll by the CHP itself, which also put Erdoğan marginally ahead of Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu. Opinion polls have also been criticised for inaccurate predictions. After the election, the polling company KONDA publicly apologised for vast inaccuracies in its polls when compared with the actual results.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Conduct, Voting process
The number of ballot boxes for the election was 166,657. This meant that there was one ballot box per 334 voters. Istanbul had the highest number of ballot boxes in terms of province, totalling 25,921. Bayburt had the smallest number, with just 274. Boxes were made out of clear plastic and ballots were placed in envelopes before being cast. Voting began at 06:00 GMT and ended at 15:00 GMT (or 08:00-17:00 local time). In order to vote, citizens needed to present their identity cards or any officially stamped or signed document that contained their identity card number.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Conduct, Voting process
Priority was given to disabled, elderly, ill and pregnant voters. The consumption of alcohol was banned throughout the election and the media was not allowed to broadcast any news regarding the election until 18:00 local time. Until 21:00 local time, media outlets could only publish official stories verified by the Supreme Electoral Council. Polling stations were usually schools, with classrooms usually containing one ballot box each. Two media agencies were reporting the results, namely the government owned Anatolia Agency and the privately run Cihan News Agency. These two agencies usually disagreed with each other's figures throughout counting. Due to potential influences by Kurdish separatists in Diyarbakır, the Turkish Armed Forces transported ballot papers for counting via army helicopter. Both Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu voted in Istanbul, while Selahattin Demirtaş voted in Diyarbakır.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Conduct, Voting process
There was heavy media speculation in regards to who Abdullah Gül, the outgoing president, voted for. Despite being a former AKP politician, an apparent rift between him and Erdoğan placed his voting intentions in doubt. Rumours had surfaced during the campaign that Gül had initially recommended Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu to MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, who in turn recommended him to CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. These turned out to be false when Kemal Derviş revealed that İhsanoğlu was his recommendation Kılıçdaroğlu. Gül voted in Çankaya, Ankara.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Conduct, Voting process
Former president Ahmet Necdet Sezer refused to vote, citing the lack of a secular candidate as his reason. This caused concern amongst İhsanoğlu's campaign team, since Sezer is seen as a figurehead for staunchly secular voters whom they were attempting to appeal to.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Conduct, Overseas voting
Voting overseas began on 31 July and ended on 3 August. 2,783,660 overseas citizens were eligible to vote in 54 countries, and voting took place in 103 consulates. Voting at borders and customs started on 26 July and continued until 10 August. On 4 August, Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah İşler announced that 232,000 overseas voters cast their votes, with a turnout of 8.5%, while votes cast at borders and customs had reached 152,000.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Conduct, Overseas voting
With the low turnout being attributed to the requirement to book an appointment to vote, it had previously emerged on 30 July that only 248,285 voters booked an appointment. It was seen as a setback for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had been predicted half of the overseas vote. On 5 August, the owner of A&G research company Adil Gür stated that the overseas vote would not affect Erdoğan's chances of success.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Results
The distribution of the votes for the three candidates is as follows:


2014 Turkish presidential election, Results, Results by province
Provinces are listed in order of license plate code. Metropolitan provinces are listed in bold. Erdoğan's family originated from Rize, but he himself was born in İstanbul. İhsanoğlu's family originated from Yozgat, but he himself was born in Cairo. Demirtaş is of Zaza origin and was born in Palu, Elazığ. The voting intentions of the candidates' provinces of origin are considered electorally significant in Turkish politics, yet Rize, Yozgat and Elazığ were all won by Erdoğan.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Results, Results by province
A summary of the numbers of provinces won by each candidate is shown below.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Results, Overseas results
Results are listed in alphabetical order. Although Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu won the most pluralities and majorities, the significantly larger Turkish electorate in countries that heavily voted for Erdoğan resulted in Erdoğan breaking many predictions by receiving nearly two thirds of the overseas vote. In Cairo, the city in which İhsanoğlu was born, 53.73% voted for İhsanoğlu with 44.03% voting for Erdoğan. Regardless, İhsanoğlu won in Egypt by just one vote, due to large support for Erdoğan in Alexandria. Note that in the maps, Greenland is considered part of Denmark, despite the fact that no voting took place in Greenland.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Results, Overseas results
A summary of the numbers of countries won by each candidate is shown below.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Aftermath
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, by virtue of winning more than half of the vote, was formally inaugurated as the 12th President of Turkey and took over from Abdullah Gül in a handover ceremony on 28 August 2014. The ceremony was boycotted by the opposition CHP. Despite winning more than 50%, the results represented a fall of 400,000 voters for Erdoğan since the 2011 general election. A day before the presidential handover, the AKP held its first extraordinary congress in order to elect a leader to succeed Erdoğan.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Aftermath
Previously on 21 August, a 3-hour AKP Central Executive Committee meeting chaired by Erdoğan formally nominated former foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu for the party leadership. No other candidate expressed any intention of running, and Davutoğlu was unanimously elected as leader unopposed with 100% of the vote. As he was elected as the leader of a party which commanded a parliamentary majority, Davutoğlu was invited by President Erdoğan to form a government on 28 August. As a consequence, the 62nd government of the Turkish Republic was sworn in by Erdoğan on 29 August, with Davutoğlu leading it as Prime Minister.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Aftermath, Domestic reactions
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a victory speech on the balcony of the AKP office in Ankara after his victory was confirmed. In his speech, he thanked his supporters for their help during his campaign and stated that the only losers of the election was "dirty politics" and stressed the need to leave hatred and rivalries in the "old Turkey." He further stated that he would be the President of all 77 million citizens of Turkey, and that he would not discriminate or marginalise minorities or political opponents. His speech drew criticism for not containing any mention of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first President of Turkey.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Aftermath, Domestic reactions
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu conceded defeat and congratulated Erdoğan, wishing him well in his new role. He stated that he had won approximately 40% of the vote, which was "by no means" an insignificant amount. He thanked his campaign team and supporters for their help during the campaign.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Aftermath, Domestic reactions
Selahattin Demirtaş also conceded defeat but did not congratulate Erdoğan, claiming that the election had not been held in a fair manner. He stated that his campaign had reached its goal of obtaining nearly 10% of the vote, which is a threshold for obtaining parliamentary seats in general elections. He stated that he would be filing a formal complaint of results in some areas to the Supreme Electoral Council.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Aftermath, Domestic reactions
Former President Süleyman Demirel, outgoing President Abdullah Gül and parliamentary speaker Cemil Çiçek all congratulated Erdoğan on his election victory.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Aftermath, Domestic reactions
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli and deputy leader of the CHP Haluk Koç both criticised the lack of fairness during the campaigning period, with Bahçeli blaming "boycotters and holidaymakers" for not voting and guaranteeing Erdoğan's victory in the first round. Regardless, Koç thanked the 12 other political parties that supported İhsanoğlu as well as all the supporters that helped during his campaign.


2014 Turkish presidential election, Aftermath, Domestic reactions
The election loss for the CHP resulted in many MPs such as Emine Ülker Tarhan, Muharrem İnce and Süheyl Batum losing confidence in the leadership of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. İnce resigned as parliamentary group leader in protest, calling for a party convention with a leadership election to be held. The call for a new leadership vote was mainly attributed to Kılıçdaroğlu taking the "risky" decision to support İhsanoğlu without consulting MPs. Despite initially accusing rebellious MPs of not contributing to the election campaign and thus helping Erdoğan win, Kılıçdaroğlu eventually announced that there would be an extraordinary party convention with a leadership election held in September.


2014 Turkmenistan Cup
The 2014 Turkmenistan Cup was the 2014 edition of the Turkmenistan Cup. The cup winner qualified for the 2015 AFC Cup.


2014 Turkmenistan Cup, Preliminary Round
Preliminary Round involves 2 teams. Games played on 1 and 5 August 2014.


2014 Turkmenistan Cup, Semi-finals
Semi-finals involves 2 teams. Games played on 7 and 10 October 2014.


2014 Tuvalu A-Division
The 2014 Tuvalu A-Division was the 14th season of top flight association football in Tuvalu. The season started on 22 February 2014 and finished on 8 April 2014.


2014 Tyrepower Tasmania 400
The 2014 Tyrepower Tasmania 400 was a motor race meeting for the Australian sedan-based V8 Supercars. It was the second event of the 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship. It was held on the weekend of 28–30 March at the Symmons Plains Raceway, near Launceston, Tasmania.


2014 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup
The 2014 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the seventh edition of the tournament which is part of the 2014 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in İzmir, Turkey between 15 and 21 September 2014.


2014 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2014 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player entered into the singles main draw as a protected ranking:


2014 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup – Doubles
Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren were the current champions, but did not compete this year.


2014 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup – Doubles
Ken and Neal Skupski won the title by defeating Malek Jaziri and Alexander Kudryavtsev 6–1, 6–4 in the final.


2014 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup – Singles
Mikhail Kukushkin was the defending champion, but did not take part this year.


2014 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup – Singles
Borna Ćorić won the title by defeating Malek Jaziri 6–1, 6–7(7–9), 6–4 in the final.


2014 U.S. F2000 National Championship
The 2014 U.S. F2000 National Championship was a season of the U.S. F2000 National Championship, an open wheel auto racing series that is the first step in IndyCar's Road to Indy ladder. It was the fifth full season of the series since its revival in 2010. The National Class merged with the Championship class in 2014, resulting in just one class of competition.


2014 U.S. F2000 National Championship
Frenchman Florian Latorre, driving for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing, won the championship by winning the final race of the season over Team E's R. C. Enerson. Enerson started the season on a hot streak, winning three of the first four races, before a cold streak ensued. Meanwhile Latorre had a steadily competitive season, only suffering one DNF in the penultimate race when he could have clinched the championship. Enerson won five races and finished on the podium in nine of the fourteen races. Meanwhile Latorre only won three times and only scored eight podium finishes, his comparative lack of poor finishes gave him the championship. Latorre's championship gives him a Mazda Road to Indy scholarship to participate in the Pro Mazda Championship in 2015.


2014 U.S. F2000 National Championship
Latorre's team mate Jake Eidson finished third in the championship, ten points back from Enerson in a season where he scored two wins. ArmsUp Motorsports' Aaron Telitz scored a single win and finished in fourth place. Afterburner Autosport's Victor Franzoni of Brazil captured the season opener but struggled thereafter, and ultimately fell to fifth in points. The series' first trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course resulted in two drivers scoring their first and only wins of the season. Will Owen employed an aggressive tire strategy to win the first race on a drying racetrack after a rainstorm and JAY Motorsports' highly touted rookie Adrian Starrantino won the second race in what was otherwise a lackluster season.


2014 U.S. F2000 National Championship
Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing captured their third straight teams' championship, mainly in part, to the performances of Latorre and Eidson.


2014 U.S. F2000 National Championship, Race calendar and results
The series schedule, along with the other Road to Indy series, was announced on October 24, 2013. Unlike previous seasons, all races are in support of the IndyCar Series except the race at Lucas Oil Raceway. All road and street course race weekends are double-headers. The series will race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Barber Motorsports Park, and Sonoma Raceway for the first time in its history. 2014 will be the first season since its revival that will not begin at Sebring Raceway.


2014 U.S. F2000 Winterfest
The 2014 U.S. F2000 Cooper Tires Winterfest was the fourth year of the winter racing series promoted by the U.S. F2000 National Championship. It consisted of six races held during two race meets during February 2014 and serves as preparation for the 2014 U.S. F2000 National Championship. Both venues are new for 2014 as the series previously raced on tracks in the state of Florida for the Winterfest.


2014 U.S. F2000 Winterfest
American R. C. Enerson captured a closely contested title over Brit Michael Epps, with each driver capturing two wins and two other podium finishes. American rookie Jake Eidson finished third in points as the only driver to finish in the top-five in every race. Victor Franzoni won the first race but had two retirements and a DNS and fell to seventh in points and Clarke Toppe won the third race but it was his only top-five finish of the series as he finished fifth in points, six points behind Florian Latorre.


2014 U.S. F2000 Winterfest, Race calendar and results
The series schedule, along with the other Road to Indy series', was announced on October 24, 2013.


2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
The 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were the national figure skating championships of the United States for the 2013–14 season.


2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
The event was held in Boston, Massachusetts on January 5–12, 2014. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing at the senior, junior, novice, intermediate and juvenile levels. The results were part of the U.S. selection criteria for the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2014 World Championships, 2014 World Junior Championships, and 2014 Four Continents Championships.


2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Overview
The 2014 event was the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Championships and the seventh time that Boston had hosted the competition. Competitors qualified at the Eastern, Midwestern, or Pacific Coast Sectional Championships or earned a bye.


2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, International team selections
The international teams were announced at two press conferences on January 12, 2014.


2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, International team selections, Olympic team
The nominations to the Olympic team were announced as follows:


2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, International team selections, World team
The team to the 2014 World Championships was announced as follows in January 2014 and amended in March:


2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, International team selections, Four Continents team
The team to the 2014 Four Continents Championships was announced as follows:


2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, International team selections, World Junior team
The team to the 2014 World Junior Championships was announced as follows:


2014 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships
The 2014 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships (also known as the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships for sponsorship purposes) is a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It is part of the 2014 ATP World Tour. It is the 46th edition of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, and an ATP World Tour 250 event. It will take place at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas, United States, from April 7 through April 13, 2014.


2014 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pair received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2014 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Doubles
Jamie Murray and John Peers were the defending champions, but they chose to compete in Casablanca instead. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won the title, defeating David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco in the final, 4–6, 6–4, [11–9]


2014 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Singles
John Isner was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Dustin Brown.


2014 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Singles
Fernando Verdasco won the title, defeating Nicolás Almagro in the final, 6–3, 7–6(7–4).


2014 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships
The 2014 P&G U.S. National Gymnastics Championships was the 51st edition of the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships. The competition was held from August 21–24, 2014 at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, Event information
The fifty-first edition of the Championships, the competition was held at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the home arena of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was the first time the U.S. Championships have been held in Pennsylvania since 2001 and just the fourth since 1973. The competition was televised by NBC Sports Network.


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, Event information, Competition schedule
The competition featured Senior and Junior competitions for both women's and men's disciplines. The competition was as follows;


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, Event information, Competition schedule
1:00 pm – Jr. Women’s Competition – Day 17:45 pm – Sr. Women’s Competition – Day 1


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, Event information, Competition schedule
1:00 pm – Jr. Men’s Competition – Day 17:15 pm – Sr. Men’s Competition – Day 1


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, Event information, Competition schedule
1:00 pm – Jr. Women’s Competition – Final Day7:30 pm – Sr. Women’s Competition – Final Day


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, Event information, Competition schedule
1:30 pm – Sr. Men’s Competition – Final Day7:30 pm – Jr. Men’s Competition – Final Day


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, Event information, Sponsorship
Procter & Gamble, a multinational consumer goods company, was the title sponsor of the event; as part of the a deal the company signed with USA Gymnastics from 2013–16. The competition was also presented by CoverGirl and Gilette. In addition, Vera Bradley, Deloitte, Kroger, OneAmerica, Faegre Baker Daniels and Washington National were all sponsoring the event.


2014 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, National Team
The top 6 placing seniors were automatically named National Team – Simone Biles, Kyla Ross, Maggie Nichols, Alyssa Baumann, MyKayla Skinner, and Amelia Hundley. Additionally Ashton Locklear, Madison Kocian, Brenna Dowell, and Madison Desch were also named to the team. As for juniors Jordan Chiles, Nia Dennis, Norah Flatley, Jazmyn Foberg, Emily Gaskins, Bailie Key, and Alexis Vasquez were all named to the junior national team.


2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships
The 2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships was a 2014 ATP World Tour tennis tournament, played on indoor hard courts. The tournament from this year was downgraded from ATP World Tour 500 series to ATP World Tour 250 series. It was the 39th edition of the first American tournament of the year and took place at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, United States, from 11 through 17 February 2014.


2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, ATP doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships – Doubles
Bob and Mike Bryan were the defending champions, but lost in the final to Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen, 4–6, 4–6.


2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships – Singles
Kei Nishikori was the defending champion and successfully defended his title, defeating Ivo Karlović in the final, 6–4, 7–6(7–0).


2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2014 U.S. Open (golf)
The  2014 United States Open Championship was the 114th U.S. Open, played June 12–15 at the No. 2 Course of the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina.


2014 U.S. Open (golf)
Martin Kaymer led wire-to-wire to win his first U.S. Open and second major title, eight strokes ahead of runners-up Erik Compton and Rickie Fowler. He was the first to open a major with two rounds of 65 or better, and set a U.S. Open record for lowest 36-hole score at 130. From Germany, Kaymer was the first from continental Europe to win the U.S. Open and the fourth European winner in five years.


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Venue
This was the third U.S. Open played at Pinehurst's No. 2 Course and first after the 2010 Coore & Crenshaw restoration which stripped the course of all of its rough and returned it to its original design. The past champions were: Payne Stewart in 1999 and Michael Campbell in 2005. Designed by Donald Ross, the No. 2 Course opened in 1907 and also hosted the PGA Championship in 1936 and the Ryder Cup in 1951. The course hosted the 2014 U.S. Women's Open the following week, the first time the two championships were played on the same course in the same year.


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Field
About half the field consisted of players who were exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open. Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, and other categories are shown in parentheses.


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Ángel Cabrera, Lucas Glover, Retief Goosen, Graeme McDowell (13,14), Rory McIlroy (7,9,13,14), Geoff Ogilvy, Justin Rose (11,12,13,14), Webb Simpson (12,13,14)


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Phil Mickelson (6,11,12,13,14), Charl Schwartzel (12,13,14), Adam Scott (12,13,14), Bubba Watson (13,14)


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Stewart Cink, Darren Clarke, Ernie Els (11,13,14), Louis Oosthuizen (13,14)


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Keegan Bradley (12,13,14), Jason Dufner (11,12,13,14), Martin Kaymer (8,13,14), Yang Yong-eun


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Nicolas Colsaerts, Jason Day (12,13,14), Luke Donald (12,13,14), Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (13,14), Rickie Fowler (13,14), Billy Horschel (12,13,14), Hunter Mahan (12,13,14), Hideki Matsuyama (13,14), Steve Stricker (12,13,14)


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Roberto Castro, Brendon de Jonge, Graham DeLaet (13,14), Jim Furyk (13,14), Sergio García (13,14), Bill Haas (13,14), Dustin Johnson (13,14), Zach Johnson (13,14), D. A. Points, Brandt Snedeker (13,14), Jordan Spieth (13,14), Henrik Stenson (13,14), Kevin Streelman (13,14), Nick Watney (13), Boo Weekley, Gary Woodland (13,14)


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Jonas Blixt (14), Jamie Donaldson (14), Victor Dubuisson (14), Harris English (14), Matt Every (14), Stephen Gallacher (14), Russell Henley (14), Thongchai Jaidee (14), Miguel Ángel Jiménez (14), Matt Jones (14), Chris Kirk (14), Pablo Larrazábal, Joost Luiten (14), Francesco Molinari (14), Ryan Moore (14), Ryan Palmer (14), Ian Poulter (14), Patrick Reed (14), John Senden (14), Kevin Stadler (14), Brendon Todd (14), Jimmy Walker (14), Lee Westwood (14)


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, First round
Martin Kaymer led the field after shooting a five-under-par 65. He led a group of four golfers, including 2010 champion Graeme McDowell, by three strokes. Only 15 players shot under-par rounds. Defending champion Justin Rose shot 72. The scoring average for the field was 73.23, more than three strokes over par.


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Second round
Martin Kaymer recorded a second consecutive round of 65 (−5), establishing a new tournament record for lowest 36-hole score (130) and becoming the first player to open a major championship with two rounds of 65 or better. His six-stroke lead over Brendon Todd after 36 holes tied a tournament record previously set by Tiger Woods in 2000 and Rory McIlroy in 2011. 21 players shot under-par rounds and 13 players were under-par for the tournament. The cut was at 145 (+5) and 67 players made the cut including one amateur, 2013 U.S. Amateur winner Matthew Fitzpatrick. The scoring average for the field was 72.89, just less than three strokes over par.


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Second round
Amateurs: Fitzpatrick (+4), Campbell (+6), Stewart (+6), Whitsett (+6), Wilson (+8), McNealy (+10), Shelton (+13), Goss (+14), McIver (+15), Grimmer (+17), Dorn (+19)


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Third round
Kaymer dropped back towards the field, shooting a 2-over-par 72 but still led by five strokes on a tougher scoring day. Erik Compton and Rickie Fowler shot the only sub-par rounds, both shooting 67 (−3) to move into a tie for second place. Only six golfers remained under-par for the tournament. The scoring average for the field was 73.82, almost four strokes over par.


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Final round
Kaymer shot a 69 in the final round to win by eight strokes over Compton and Fowler. His 72-hole score of 271 was the second-lowest in U.S. Open history. This was his second major championship and also made him the fourth European winner of the event in five years (after Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose) having previously had no European winners since Tony Jacklin in 1970. Eleven golfers shot under-par rounds but none in the last eight groups except Kaymer. Only three golfers finished under-par for the tournament. The scoring average for the field was 72.40, the lowest of any rounds.


2014 U.S. Open (golf), Media
This was the last U.S. Open for NBC Sports, which had televised the event for twenty consecutive years, 1995–2014. Starting in 2015, Fox Sports began a 12-year contract to televise the championship and other USGA events, which it ended early before the 2020 U.S. Open where NBC regained coverage due to scheduling conflicts with Fox’s NFL and college football coverage caused by the tournament’s postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2014 U.S. Open Cup
The 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 101st edition of the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. Qualification began in November 2013 in the fifth tier. The USSF announced the tournament format on April 24, 2014.


2014 U.S. Open Cup
The defending champions D.C. United were eliminated in the 4th Round by the Rochester Rhinos. Seattle Sounders FC defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-1 (after extra time) to claim their 4th Open Cup championship in 6 years.


2014 U.S. Open Cup
The cash prize amounts remain the same as last year. The champion receives $250,000 and the runner-up receives $60,000. Also, the team from each lower division that advanced the furthest received $15,000: Laredo Heat (USL PDL), Rochester Rhinos (USL Pro), and Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL).


2014 U.S. Open Cup, Qualification
All United States Division I (MLS), Division II (NASL) & Division III (USL Pro) teams qualify automatically.


2014 U.S. Open Cup, Match Details, First Round
The First Round draw was announced Thursday, April 24, 2014. A total of 16 teams will compete, ten from the fourth tier of American soccer and six from the fifth tier.


2014 U.S. Open Cup, Match Details, Second Round
The Second Round draw was announced Thursday, April 24, 2014. A total of 48 teams will compete, including the eight winners from the first round and 40 new entries from the 3rd and 4th tiers of American soccer. The lowest ranked teams in this round are RWB Adria, Red Force FC, and PSA Elite of the 5th tier United States Adult Soccer Association.


2014 U.S. Open Cup, Match Details, Third Round
A total of 32 teams will compete in the Third Round, including the 24 winners from the previous round and eight teams from the North American Soccer League. The lowest ranked teams in this round are RWB Adria and PSA Elite of the  5th tier United States Adult Soccer Association.


2014 U.S. Open Cup, Match Details, Fourth Round
A total of 32 teams will compete in the Fourth Round, including the 16 winners from the previous round and 16 teams from Major League Soccer. The lowest ranked team in this round is PSA Elite of the  5th tier United States Adult Soccer Association.


2014 U.S. Open Cup, Match Details, Fifth Round
A total of 16 teams will compete in the Fifth Round, all of which have progressed from the previous round. The lowest qualified side in this round are the Rochester Rhinos of the 3rd tier USL Professional Division.


2014 U.S. Open Cup, Match Details, Quarterfinals
The lowest ranked teams in the quarterfinals are the Atlanta Silverbacks and Carolina RailHawks, both of the 2nd tier North American Soccer League.


2014 U.S. Open Cup, Match Details, Semifinals
Of the teams that qualified for the semifinals of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, all four come from Major League Soccer, the top tier of professional soccer in the United States.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final
The 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was a soccer match played on September 16, 2014, at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. The match determined the winner of the 2014 U.S. Open Cup, a tournament open to amateur and professional teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. This was the 101st edition of the oldest competition in United States soccer. Seattle Sounders FC won the match, defeating the Philadelphia Union. The crowd of 15,256 saw the teams go into extra time level at 1–1 before the Sounders scored twice more to end the match 3–1.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final
Philadelphia and Seattle both play in the top tier of American soccer, Major League Soccer (MLS), and bypassed the initial stages of the tournament with entries into the fourth round of play. The Sounders were in the midst of a Supporters' Shield-winning regular season, while the Union's start was so poor that their coach was replaced a week prior to their first game in the competition. Philadelphia secured its berth in the final by defeating the Harrisburg City Islanders, the New York Cosmos, the New England Revolution, and FC Dallas. Seattle's road to the final included victories over PSA Elite, the San Jose Earthquakes, the Portland Timbers, and the Chicago Fire.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final
The coaches both chose strong squads in their attempts to win the trophy, though Sounders forward Kenny Cooper, later selected as Player of the Tournament, did not appear in the final. The Union's Maurice Edu gave his team the lead with a goal in the first half, but the Sounders equalized with a second half strike by Chad Barrett, and the match went into extra time. Although Philadelphia controlled periods of the match with chances throughout, Clint Dempsey took the lead for Seattle in the first extra time period, and Obafemi Martins sealed a Seattle victory with a late goal. Seattle earned a $250,000 cash prize, as well as a berth into the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League. Philadelphia received a $60,000 cash prize as the competition's runner-up.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final
The U.S. Open Cup is an annual American soccer competition open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams to the professional clubs of Major League Soccer (MLS). The 2014 competition was the 101st edition of the oldest soccer tournament in the United States. For the third consecutive season, all American-based MLS teams earned automatic qualification into the third round proper. Previously, only eight teams from MLS could qualify for the tournament: six automatically based on the previous year's league results, and two more via a play-in tournament.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Philadelphia Union
Teams from Philadelphia and the surrounding region have had a successful history in the Open Cup: Bethlehem Steel F.C. won five trophies between 1915 and 1926, the Uhrik Truckers won in 1936, and the Philadelphia Ukrainians won four times during the 1960s. The Union's alternative jersey, worn throughout the competition, featured a large letter "B" in the lower left corner to honor Bethlehem.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Philadelphia Union
The Union began the MLS regular season with only 3 wins in 16 games. Their head coach John Hackworth was fired, and Jim Curtin was named as his interim replacement, a week before the first Open Cup match against their lower-league affiliate Harrisburg City Islanders on June 17. A successful run in the Open Cup had the potential to salvage the season, and Curtin said that the team was taking the home game "very seriously".


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Philadelphia Union
Harrisburg plays in the USL Professional Division—the third division of American soccer—but Philadelphia still played several of its regular starters, and did not permit Harrisburg to use two previously loaned Union players. Philadelphia was almost eliminated, but Maurice Edu scored an equalizing goal in the 89th minute, and Andrew Wenger scored two more goals in extra time to advance the Union with a score of 3–1.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Philadelphia Union
On June 24, Philadelphia played at home versus the New York Cosmos of the second-tier North American Soccer League in what was only Curtin's second game as head coach. Overtime was again needed as the teams ended regulation tied at one apiece before Sébastien Le Toux scored the game-winner in the 115th minute. Shortly after the goal, a melee erupted between the teams that resulted in two Cosmos players and one Union player being sent off for pushing and shoving. Two of New York's assistant coaches were also ejected for their parts in the disorder.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Philadelphia Union
The team were at home against the New England Revolution of MLS for the fifth round, on July 8. They easily won with goals from Conor Casey and Le Toux. The latter's strike made him the modern-era Open Cup goals leader with a total of 14 scored in his career. Le Toux had a strong history with Seattle and the tournament before moving to the Union in 2009; he previously played for the second-division incarnation of the Sounders and won the 2009 Open Cup with the MLS side. He would later be named the runner-up to the year's Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. A dust storm accompanied by thunder and lightning halted the game for an hour after the 61st minute, but the Revolution could not recover from the two-goal deficit.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Philadelphia Union
On August 12, Philadelphia traveled to MLS side FC Dallas for the semifinal. Amobi Okugo scored a goal in the first half before Dallas equalized. The match went to kicks as regulation and extra time resulted in a stalemate. Goalkeeper Zac MacMath made diving saves of two Dallas attempts in the shoot-out to clinch the Union's place in the final—the closest the team had been to winning a trophy in its five-year history.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Seattle Sounders FC
The Seattle Sounders won the Open Cup in 2009, 2010, and 2011. They also reached the final in 2012 but were eliminated by a lower-level side early in 2013. In 2014, they drew amateur club PSA Elite, a developmental lower-division team that had already been victorious in its first three rounds of the tournament. Seattle hosts most Open Cup home games at Tukwila's Starfire Sports stadium. The ground holds about 4,000, which is much smaller than their normal home stadium, CenturyLink Field. Coach Sigi Schmid was quoted as saying "I think our guys thrive on the closeness of the crowd. It helps spur them on to good performances." Seattle was leading MLS entering the round on June 18, and easily won 5–0. Kenny Cooper scored twice in the victory.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Seattle Sounders FC
The Sounders hosted the San Jose Earthquakes at Starfire on June 24 and both teams scored in the first half. The Earthquakes second-string goalie, David Bingham, kept his team in the match by stopping three shots from Chad Barrett late in the second half. Neither team scored in extra time and the game went to a shoot-out. After the shoot-out ended 4–1, goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann celebrated by drinking a beer in front of the beer garden and the home fans.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Seattle Sounders FC
On July 9, Seattle went against its rival, the Portland Timbers, at Starfire for the quarterfinal. The Sounders went on top with an Osvaldo Alonso goal, but former Sounder Steve Zakuani assisted Darlington Nagbe to score a last-second equalizer for the Timbers in the 93rd minute. Extra time saw the ejection of Portland's Diego Chara while Cooper and Marco Pappa both found the back of the net to give the home team a 3–1 victory.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Road to the final, Seattle Sounders FC
The team's semifinal match was at home against Chicago Fire on August 13. The Fire were without 2013's MLS Most Valuable Player, Mike Magee, due to suspension. Cooper and Andy Rose each scored twice while Obafemi Martins and Pappa both had a goal apiece. Seattle finished the game with three goals in the final four and a half minutes in the convincing 6–0 victory. The first goal of the match was Cooper's last of the competition as he did not play in the subsequent final. He ended the tournament with a total of 13 career Open Cup goals, one shy of Le Toux's modern-era total of 14. Cooper netted six in 2014 alone, and he would go on to be named 2014's Player of the Tournament.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Pre-match, Venue selection
The United States Soccer Federation determined the host of the final with a coin flip on August 4, 2014. The winner of the toss was whoever was victorious in the FC Dallas/Philadelphia Union semifinal, meaning that the game would take place at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was the eleventh time the greater-Philadelphia region hosted the final and the first since 1994. The Union marketed the game by publicly displaying the trophy at local restaurants, landmarks, and events.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Pre-match, Analysis
The Open Cup is not held in as high regard as the MLS Cup, but it is still an important achievement. For Philadelphia, it represented their first-ever chance at a trophy, whereas Seattle had been to the finals five times in the club's six-year history. With a victory, the Sounders would tie the Fire with four overall wins by an MLS team.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Pre-match, Analysis
The all-time record between the clubs stood at 3–2 in favor of Seattle. The Sounders had beaten the Union earlier in the year during league play, but Philadelphia had improved since then. By the time of the final, the Union had a 10-game unbeaten streak at home. Seattle had recently lost three of five MLS matches but was still one of the best teams in the league. Seattle was the favorite, with one pundit comparing Philadelphia to perennial underdog Rocky Balboa of the film series Rocky.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Pre-match, Analysis
Player selection during the previous stages of the Open Cup was a challenge due to key personnel receiving call-ups for the World Cup. The Sounders had depth that could withstand losing players, and did not rest starters in the lead-up to the final game. The Union rested several starters during the previous weekend's league match. Philadelphia's Casey, Le Toux, and Cristian Maidana were significant attacking threats, while Seattle had the striking pair of Martins and Clint Dempsey. Defensively, Edu was Philadelphia's strongest player. Seattle also had a strong defense with young national team prospect DeAndre Yedlin, and eventual MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Match
Kickoff was scheduled for 7:30 pm local time. Armando Villarreal was the referee and his assistants were Peter Manikowski and Corey Parker. The fourth official was Jose Carlos Rivero. There were no suspensions or injuries of note. The weather was cloudy with a temperature of 73 °F (23 °C).


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Match, First half
Sounders coach Schmid made adjustments to his usual starting lineup. Pappa did not start due to a recent return from international duty with Guatemala, while star striker Martins was on the bench as well. Although he won the Golden Boot for most goals scored, Cooper was primarily a bench player throughout the year and did not start the match. Although lacking those playmakers, the Sounders came out attacking, and their first big chance came in the 10th minute when Rose slung a low cross near the face of the goal to Dempsey, whose resulting shot was off-frame.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Match, First half
The Union increased its pace with Andrew Wenger playing wide on the left where he repeatedly got past Yedlin to get to the byline or cut back to shoot. Maidana and Le Toux strengthened Philadelphia's position by combining on the other side of the field to penetrate Seattle's defense. Wenger connected with Le Toux who took a shot, but Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei was quick enough to make the stop. In the 38th minute, Maidana was fouled by Leonardo González wide right of the penalty area. Maidana's resulting free kick curled towards the back post where Brad Evans lost his footing and Edu glanced the ball with his forehead to put it in the back of the net. The home team kept control of the first half and continued creating scoring opportunities.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Match, Second half
Neither team made substitutions at halftime. The Sounders came out on the attack and were awarded a corner kick just three minutes into the period. Carlos Valdes attempted to clear the ball but Marshall headed it towards goal for MacMath to clear. Barrett scored from close range and the match was level at 1–1.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Match, Second half
Seattle maintained momentum with Yedlin beginning to overcome Wenger while Martins replaced Barrett in the 60th minute. Philadelphia's midfield then again began to assert dominance and Maidana had a breakaway in the 72nd minute. Yedlin sprinted to make up ground to stop the attack in what MLS would call the "defensive play of the game". Dempsey had a chance to score off a cross from Pappa in the 76th minute but could not get a foot on the ball. Martins then had another chance that went wide before control shifted yet again to Philadelphia.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Match, Second half
Seattle replaced Lamar Neagle with Pappa in the 74th minute in an attempt to create an advantage. Philadelphia answered with two more chances that almost won the match. Casey received a yellow card at the 57th minute and was later replaced by Pedro Ribeiro. In the 88th minute, Raymon Gaddis won the ball and took a shot that was deflected. Ribeiro took a shot but it lacked power. In stoppage time, Vincent Nogueira had another close shot that struck the post and ricocheted dangerously close to the goal before being cleared.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Match, Extra time
Martins opened extra time with a shot on goal while the Sounders played increasingly higher on the field. Seattle took the lead in the 101st minute when Dempsey and Martins connected on a play that resulted in Dempsey making a low shot. Martins, Dempsey, and Pappa effectively countered Philadelphia's attacks in the second half of extra time and Pappa hit the crossbar on an attempted shot. Valdes had an excellent opportunity to tie the match in the 111th minute when he made a header towards the Sounders goal, but the shot was weak and easily saved. Although Philadelphia was pressing the attack, Martins scored in the 114th minute to put the Sounders up 3–1.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Match, Details
Assistant referees:Peter Manikowski (Massachusetts)Corey Parker (Maryland)Fourth official:Jose Carlos Rivero (New York)


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Post-match
Both teams had chances during the match with Philadelphia making an especially intense push in the final 15 minutes. While both defenses struggled throughout, Frei and MacMath combined for a total of seven saves (four and three, respectively). Schmid told the press after the final: "From a fans' standpoint, it was probably a very, very entertaining game." A writer for Sports Illustrated quipped that "Schmid's decision not to start Obafemi Martins and Pappa was confusing — and then looked like a stroke of genius", as both were integral to the Sounders offense in the later stages of the game.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Post-match
Schmid told reporters during a post-match interview that Martins did not start due to a muscle strain. The coach also praised the ability of Martins and Dempsey to complete key passes with each other. The Sounders received a $250,000 cash prize for winning the tournament. It was Dempsey's first club trophy of his long career, and he beat Martins in voting to be named the Player of the Round. Yedlin and Frei also received votes. Seattle went on to win the MLS Supporters' Shield for having the best record in the league before being eliminated from the playoffs. The Open Cup win granted the team a spot in the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Post-match
As runner-up, Philadelphia was awarded $60,000. Curtin told the media after the game: "I've never been proud of anything in my life that ended in a loss before ... This is the first time." Curtin's leadership on the road to the final helped convince the players, fans, media, and front office of his ability to manage the club. Although the team missed the league playoffs, his performance was enough for the team to remove the "interim" tag from his title as head coach.


2014 U.S. Open Cup Final, Post-match
GOL TV had broadcasting rights for the tournament between 2012 and 2014. The channel is not shown on many television packages, but Comcast picked up the feed in the Philadelphia area. Attendance at PPL Park was 15,256, the lowest for an Open Cup final in six years. A live stream was made available over the Internet for a fee, but the quality was so poor that refunds were promised after only 20 minutes. After the game, a writer for The Seattle Times panned the broadcast arrangements and low attendance at PPL Park, saying, "It's a shame so few were able to see it."


2014 U.S. Open Cup qualification
The 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament proper features teams from all five tiers of men's soccer of the American Soccer Pyramid.