All you need to know about Turkish Elections 14 May 2023 [Video]

Turkish General elections are scheduled to take place on 14 May 2023 this week, Presidential elections are held to elect the President of Turkey using a two-round system. Simultaneously, parliamentary elections are held to elect 600 Members of parliament to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The previous Turkish general election took place in 2018. The election marked the country’s transition from a parliamentary system to a presidential one, as narrowly endorsed by voters in the 2017 constitutional referendum.

That election resulted in a victory for incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had held the position since 2014. Meanwhile, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lost its absolute majority in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for the first time since June 2015, forcing it to rely on its coalition partner, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) of Devlet Bahçeli, to pass legislation. The office of the Prime Minister of Turkey was abolished on 12 July 2018, and its last holder, Binali Yıldırım, took office as the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly.

At least 1.7 million people attend Erdogan’s grand Istanbul rally ahead of the May 14 elections, local media reports.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces immense pressure from many opposition candidates who blame the incumbent president for the economic crisis and a failed foreign policy, these include Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The 74-year-old is regarded as an anti-corruption bureaucrat. He has been chairman of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) since 2007. Kilicdaroglu and his six-party opposition alliance are promising to transform Turkey and turn it back into a strong parliamentary system.

They want to undo as many of Erdogan’s constitutional changes, which increased his power, as possible. Kemal and their camp claim President Erdogan has amended the Constitution in his favour to have a lot of presidential powers. Two other politicians are running for the presidency, though neither is popular. It was considered certain that the Turkish opposition would field a joint candidate against Erdogan to pool its votes against him and increase their chances of winning the election. Two opposition politicians nevertheless decided to run on their own pushing their political  agenda

One of these politicians is 58-year-old Muharrem Ince, who ran for the presidency in 2018 for the CHP. He lost against Erdogan, despite winning 30% of the vote. He then resigned from the CHP and founded his own party, the “Homeland Party” (Memleket Partisi). He accuses the CHP of not having supported him enough five years ago when he ran for office. Many CHP supporters are now calling on Ince not to run. But negotiations between Ince and Kilicdaroglu could not persuade Ince to withdraw his candidacy. Ince’s election promises include strengthening the rule of law and press freedom, which he expects will also strengthen the Turkish economy and its tourist sector.

The final candidate is Sinan Ogan, who probably has the slimmest chance of winning the presidential race. He is supported by an alliance of small, ultranationalist parties. In 2011, he entered parliament with the MHP, when it was still in opposition. He was expelled from the party in 2015, though rejoined after a court case. In 2017, Ogan was expelled yet again. The MHP said his behavior had “seriously damaged the unity of the party” and accused him of “severe indiscipline toward the party chairman.” Although he was considered a possible candidate for the MHP party leadership at the time, today, he has no realistic chance of winning the presidency.

As a staunch nationalist, his foreign policy stance is clear: He promises to stop celebrating Greece’s Independence Day and stresses that Turkey must pay special attention to the Turkic states, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. As Turkey heads for polls this week, every vote counts just a few votes can make a difference, as Turks know well. In 1994, Erdogan was one of several candidates running for Istanbul mayor.

While the four candidates of the non-Islamist parties won 22, 20, 15, and 12% of the vote, respectively, Erdogan received 25%, thereby narrowly clinching victory. This year, there is yet again fear among the Turkish opposition that its own disunity could allow Erdogan to win the election.