Reasons behind increased activity in Turkey’s political arena

With allegations of a coup d’etat in the making and claims of an early election in the works, there is increased activity in Turkey’s national political arena, as rumors circulate around competing electoral alliances.

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Reasons behind increased activity in Turkey s political arena
Political parties in search of updated road maps

Political parties in search of updated road maps

With Parliament back from summer recess, Turkey's political scene is heating up. The Good Party (İP), part of the opposition-led Nation Alliance, announced that it will leave the alliance if the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) joins it.

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The Istanbul rerun election fueled new developments in Turkish politics. There is an ongoing discussion on a range of issues including the presidential system and the prospect of new political parties. The newfound "self-confidence" of Kurdish nationalists deserves particular attention in this context. The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) takes credit for the Republican People's Party's (CHP) success in the March 31 and June 23 elections. As a matter of fact, it dates its influence back to the June 2018 elections.

The level of polemic in Istanbul's mayoral election campaign remained limited in the month of Ramadan. The general campaign discourse, though, is built on positive messages for both sides.

Some words are capable of designating more than what they seem to mean. The word alliance, which has become a cornerstone of Turkish politics in recent months, is one such example. In the wake of the July 2016 resistance and Turkey's transition to a presidential system, the ability to form and maintain alliances emerged as a key skill in the political arena.

Although the recount of some ballots in Istanbul is ongoing, analysts have started to discuss the outcome of the local elections that took place in Turkey on Sunday. It will be hard to summarize the potential outcomes of the elections and their meaning but here are some critical points.

Last call before local elections

Turkey will hold municipal elections tomorrow. The People's Alliance and the Nation Alliance have worked very hard to win over undecided voters and maximize turnout.

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Last call before local elections
How Sunday's vote may reshape Turkish politics

How Sunday's vote may reshape Turkish politics

If the People's Alliance succeeds in the elections, the AK Party and the MHP may deepen their ties and continue to institutionalize the new political system, buoyed by this enthusiasm

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This analysis explains the March 2019 local election’s significance to Turkish politics and concentrates on the ways in which the visions of various political parties for local government have changed over the years.

Local elections in Turkey are taking on the character of general elections as foreign policy comes to dominate the conversation.

It has been awhile since political parties in Turkey began preparations for the upcoming local elections. Indeed, they had already been focusing on implementing a new approach to broaden their appeal before the snap election decision.

Ahead of this month's municipal elections, the main ideological debate in Turkey revolves around the question of national survival.

Ahead of the March 2019 municipal elections, battle lines have been drawn across Turkey's political arena.

Yet, the pain that accompanied Britain's decision to leave the EU two years ago hasn't ended just yet. The nature of the agreement fueled a new public debate in Britain, where former Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of the mildest critics of the Brexit deal, called it "pointless."

The Erdoğan-Bahçeli meeting on Thursday reconfirmed that the two political blocs, namely the People's Alliance of the AK Party and MHP and the opposition's Nation Alliance, formed for the June 24 presidential elections, will remain in place for the next local elections

The CHP leader has launched his party's campaign for upcoming local elections, seeking to form a strong alliance, but tough days are waiting for him as his rivals, the AK Party and the MHP, are still strong enough to defeat his party

Now both sides have to compete against each other in a civilized manner and manage the risk of the former members of the Nation Alliance cooperating.

The upcoming municipal elections are starting to attract attention in Turkey.

Turkey has been discussing the possibilities and limitations of pre-electoral alliances in the local elections for awhile now.

The chaos unleashed on Turkey's opposition by the June 24 elections won't be over anytime soon. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) that oversaw the formation of the Nation Alliance by "lending" 15 parliamentarians to the newly-formed Good Party (İP), has his back to the wall.

The June 24 elections were positioned as a critical juncture in Turkish political life in many aspects.