Candidate debates in Turkey after Hungarian elections

It sounds funny, but it's true. The Turkish opposition pinned their hope on the recently held elections in Hungary and was disappointed with the result

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Candidate debates in Turkey after Hungarian elections
Debates on AK Party center-right and identity politics

Debates on AK Party, center-right and identity politics

Turkey is at a time and place where neither the People’s Alliance nor the opposition can view the 2023 elections as a done deal

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The new plan proposed by the People's Alliance seeks to blend 'justice in representation' and 'stability of the government

The Turkish government's new diplomatic initiative with its regional and global partners is based on logic, while the opposition still has no idea why it rejects the process

The oligarchical plan proposed by the 6 +1 opposition parties can never be embraced by the Turkish electorate

The leaders of Turkey’s six opposition parties will hold their first roundtable meeting on Feb. 12. Having agreed to the need for an "augmented" parliamentary system, they had been facing criticism over their seeming fragmentation and lack of a common political agenda.

Can the Turkish opposition fix its waywardness?

The Turkish opposition’s waywardness alarms its mentors, who warn that the election is 'theirs to lose.'

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Can the Turkish opposition fix its waywardness
DEVA and GP's 'alliance' engineering in Turkish politics

DEVA and GP's 'alliance' engineering in Turkish politics

The leaders of DEVA and the GP have already taken some steps. They are attempting to be more active and to generate some level of legitimacy for their movements.

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The opposition will not stop demanding an early election in 2022, while the current government will want to wait until the country's new economic model starts yielding results.

The main opposition leader keeps making mistake after mistake, miscalculation after miscalculation

For the record, it is not yet clear which political parties will contest the next election as part of the Nation Alliance. Potential changes to Turkey’s electoral system, too, may tilt the balance of power.

Opposition leaders Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Meral Akşener of the Good Party (IP) continue to call for an early election, whenever they feel like it.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is committed to a “new and civilian” constitution. In a recent parliamentary meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party), he urged the country’s political leaders to work toward establishing “a civilian constitution instead of the constitution of coup plotters,” to mark the centennial of the Republic of Turkey.

Muharrem Ince, who was the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate in 2018, resigned on Feb. 8, following in the footsteps of three other parliamentarians. His critique of the CHP leadership was strongly worded and comprehensive.

The balance of power between the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) People’s Alliance and the opposition Nation Alliance will have a defining impact on Turkish politics and Turkey’s 2023 elections. Since all parties are aware of that fact, both sides began to take certain steps shortly after the 2018 election. For the record, they follow similar game plans: They want to consolidate their respective alliances and chip away at the opposing bloc.

Leaders of Turkey’s major political parties are meeting more frequently, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's "alliance" talks with the Felicity Party (SP) reinvigorated the opposition. There is an effort underway to keep relations warm between the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Good Party (IP), the SP, the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) and the Future Party (GP) over proposals of an “augmented parliamentary system.”

Hardly anyone in Turkey thought they would bid farewell to 2020 amid a fresh controversy surrounding the Islamic headscarf.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s emphasis on “a fresh mobilization for the economy, the law and democracy” energized the country. The scope, nature and sustainability of “the new chapter” and “reform” remain unclear. For now, there are a number of reform packages on the table that are intended to restore faith in Turkey’s justice system and to attract foreign investors.

Turkey’s party politics cannot seem to lose momentum. Two new political movements have recently emerged out of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Now, the Republican People's Party (CHP), which just held its 37th Congress, faces the same possibility.

Turkey’s pro-opposition circles take great pride in circulating rumors about the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) supposed declining popular support. Notwithstanding recent approval ratings reported by pollsters of questionable credibility, some online media executives have insisted since 2013 on claiming, and making their guests agree, that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will lose his next election. Although the people of Turkey have repeatedly proved them wrong, they continue to find new arguments to support their views.

Turkey’s political parties are currently preoccupied with the proposed regulation of social media platforms, the legal status of Hagia Sophia, the parliamentary bill on multiple bar associations, the Istanbul Convention, the LGBT and Generation Z debates and the declining performance of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. In addition to those hot topics, there are also two permanent features: early elections and potential shifts between electoral alliances.