The opposition alliance has nominated its candidate: Social Democrat Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is set to depose Erdoğan after two decades. The momentum is on his side. At least now.
It is the polls that make the AKP headquarters in Ankara quite nervous: Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the designated candidate for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, would get – if Turkey were to vote now – almost 57% of the votes. And Erdoğan for 43 percent. But not an independent poll not confirmed by a pro-government poll: Erdoğan-leaning newspapers put the president’s party at over 40 percent, while Kilıçdaroğlu’s Social Democrats are stuck at 26 percent.
A lot can change before Election Day on May 14th. But if the opposition gets what it wants, Erdoğan’s fate is sealed after two decades in power. Momentum is currently on Kılıçdaroğlu’s side. The head of the social democratic and left nationalist CHP party thus managed to unite an alliance of six parties behind him and present himself as a candidate. The dispute seems to have been forgotten a few days ago, when the head of the nationalist IYI party, Meral Akşener, left the alliance with a bang, only to return a day later.