New polls show that the presidential candidate from the Turkish opposition leads President Erdogan by more than 10 percent ahead of the elections to be held this coming May. Victims of last month’s earthquake are reconsidering their support for Erdogan
New polls in Turkey show that the Turkish opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicderoulu, leads President Erdogan by more than 10 percent ahead of the May 14 election, which is considered by many to be the most significant vote in Turkey’s history.
The polls also show that the opposition bloc, called the National Alliance, also leads the race for seats in the parliament, at least by six percent, ahead of Erdogan’s party and its allies. Erdogan faces the biggest challenge to his 20-year rule after his popularity eroded during the cost-of-living crisis. Victims of last month’s earthquake are reconsidering their support for Erdogan.
The elections will decide not only who will lead Turkey but how it will be conducted, where its economy is headed and what role it might play to ease the war in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The opposition parties in Turkey chose a presidential candidate against Erdogan
As a reminder, as we reported last week, the six opposition parties in Turkey chose Kemal Kilicderoulu as a candidate in the presidential election against Erdogan, which will be held on May 14. Erdogan is facing a public outcry over his poor handling of last month’s catastrophic earthquakes that left an estimated 50,000 dead.
Mr Kilicderoulu, 74, is the veteran leader of the country’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the secular bloc founded more than a century ago by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.