Twelve Turkish soldiers lost their lives earlier this week in an attack by the terrorist organization PKK in northern Iraq. I offer my condolences to their families and the nation.

The Turkish media reported two major developments with the potential to cause a stir in domestic politics. First, Sabah reported that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was going to host a pro-Palestinian event, the “Great Gathering for Palestine,” outside its provincial headquarters in Istanbul and that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and fellow leaders of the People’s Alliance would attend it. Secondly, the Directorate of Communications announced that President Erdoğan had signed Sweden’s NATO accession protocol and sent it to the Turkish Parliament.

Established to tackle the political and economic crises of the 1990s, the AK Party encountered many challenges. It opted for what was possible and rational as opposed to ideology to skillfully analyze the future of world politics.

Over the weekend, President Erdoğan and his new Cabinet started working toward the “Century of Türkiye.” The Turkish leader has many items on his diplomatic agenda – as the number of world leaders congratulating him and attending his inauguration ceremony suggests. Over the following years, Türkiye will promote peace, stability and cooperation in its neighborhood, consolidate its continent-wide initiatives and strive toward a more just world order.

Türkiye successfully held a historic election in line with democratic maturity. Governments around the world watched closely as 88.92% of eligible voters participated in the election and Turkish democracy proved its strength yet again. In the end, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan beat his opponent, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, by almost 5 percentage points. Meanwhile, the People’s Alliance claimed 322 parliamentary seats – the majority – with 49.5%.

In 2023, Türkiye will celebrate the centennial of the establishment of the republic and will also hold a crucial election. The 2023 elections are one of the most important in Türkiye’s history. Four main topics will determine the fate of the elections: refugees, the economy, rising nationalism, and the Kurdish question. There are serious differences of opinion between the government and opposition blocs regarding the solution to these problems. Concerning refugee policies, Türkiye is still the country hosting the highest number of displaced persons under temporary protection in the world. While policies against immigrants are rising all over the world, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has adopted a humanitarian approach in terms of refugee policies. Erdoğan has also used his power of persuasion in society in terms of solving economic problems. In many parts of the world, the combination of refugees and economic problems manifested itself in the form of reactionary nationalism. Erdoğan, on the other hand, used nationalist rhetoric in an integrative way, blending the concepts of native (yerli) and national (milli). Although the opposition has not demonstrated a clear approach to these issues, it positioned itself directly opposite Erdoğan. Likewise, recently, a new approach has been adopted in terms of the solution to the Kurdish question, apart from the PKK. The 2023 elections will show which of the approaches of the government or the opposition wings coincide with Turkish society’s expectations.

Everyone seems to agree that Türkiye will make a “critically important choice at a historic crossroads” on May 14. That makes us expect an election campaign where each candidate and their parties will speak their truths. Do not be fooled by the ongoing calmness, as electoral alliances have been trying to expand and negotiate candidate lists in the month of Ramadan.

The level of ambiguity seems to increase as that debate continues, mainly because the Turkish opposition bloc, known as the 'table for six,' is in a challenging and contradictory pursuit

GP Chair Davutoğlu and DEVA Chair Babacan, the 'engineers' of the 'table for six' who face harsh criticism, work very hard to ensure the success of a political initiative that would lead to main opposition CHP’s domination

The pro-PKK HDP strengthened its hand vis-à-vis the 'table for six' by opting to field its own presidential candidate

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Good Party (IP) recently signaled that they could walk back on their rapprochement with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Ankara decided to decrease the electoral threshold from 10% to 7%

The first step to solve the problems in Cyprus will be the recognition of the existence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the international arena

Obviously, democracy requires political parties to change their views in order to find a middle ground. Temporarily suppressing one’s real views to unite around “negative politics” (opposing everything) is not a healthy attitude for the culture of democracy.

The Justice Ministry's vital mission to formulate an up-to-date and visionary plan is considered a contribution to the new civilian constitution, which is scheduled to be drafted in the 100th year of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

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.