Turkish Presidential Race: Winner and Losers
There is less than a month to go before Turkeys presidential elections but media is still not giving a clear view of vote
More
Whom Selahattin Demirtaş Represents
The Demirtaş campaign serves the Kurdish political movement's efforts to turn an ethnically-oriented, regional political party into a national force and to reach out to non-Kurdish voters - which is why they recently established the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
More
There are three presidential candidates, but actually only two of them are running and the other one keeps saying that "he will not be involved in politics."
İhsanoğlu comes from a place in Turkish politics that neither MHP nor CHP voters can easily identify with.
Having agreed to nominate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu as their joint candidate, the opposition parties have successfully taken a first step. We will have ample time to analyze whether or not he can live up to the expectations over the coming weeks.
Keeping all above-mentioned scenarios in mind, the only certain thing about the upcoming presidential election is that the main opposition CHP's decision to endorse a candidate with no ideological affinity to the party organization will result in a prolonged controversy.
The Presidential Elections and the Opposition
That Turkey was going to face a tripartite campaign race during 2014-2015 has been known since the Constitutional Court ruling on the amendments to the electoral laws in 2012.
More
The Opposition's Pursuit of a Unity Candidate for the Presidential Election
The opposition's pursuit of a unity candidate, already plagued with a number of practical problems, also goes against the nature of democratic politics by alienating the AK Party and promoting further polarization in Turkish politics.
More
The Ak Party which integrated a discourse of civilization with Erdoğan's leadership, has the courage to confront all fears of the history of Turkish modernization.
The biggest obstacle standing in front of the opposition to expand its constituency geographically is its unwillingness to break out of its comfort zone.
It is necessary to contemplate and understand why, in the face of such radical changes, Turkey's political map, party choices have remained the same.
The AK Party has become the primary party in all seven regions in Turkey. It was able to go toe to toe with the CHP in the Aegean region - due to alliances between the CHP and MHP.
The MHP's inability to create a presence in metropolitan cities was the main cause of the party's dismay on March 30.
Turkey's local elections which looked more like parliamentary elections are finally behind us. Never had an election season in the country's history been so aggressive and tense.
The elections will not end polarization in Turkish politics. In fact, this election should be seen as the first phase of the presidential elections of Aug. 10, 2014.
The opposition parties neither signal a structural and managerial change in their parties nor offer a different vision for the future in the event they lose the March 30 elections.
In other words, extra-parliamentary forces working against the government have effectively resulted in Erdoğan's association with democracy, the ballot box and popular will.
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party), with the elections on March 30, will have run in a total of eight elections since its founding. If the polls and the rallies are any indication, it seems that AK Party will prevail once again.
The Dec. 17 operation transformed the local elections into a vote of confidence for the AK Party government. March 30 is no longer about municipalities and town councils but Mr. Erdoğan's political future
