Tens of millions of Turks went to the polls and cast their votes last Sunday to choose the next president and the 600-seat Parliament. Over 30 political parties and five multiparty political coalitions (the People’s Alliance, the Nation Alliance, the ATA Alliance, the Labor and Freedom Alliance, and the Union of Socialist Forces Alliance) competed in the elections. At first, there were four official candidates, namely, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Sinan Oğan and Muharrem Ince. However, after the withdrawal of Ince, only three of them competed for the Presidency.

We experienced another historic night on May 14. The number of votes President Erdoğan received, surpassing 27 million, represents the highest vote count ever recorded. Despite the theories that 5 million new voters would be a handicap for him, the sense of "enough is enough" among the electorate would help secure victory for the opposition, and the economic problems would guarantee a change in power, we saw that these claims did not materialize in the results. The problems among the opposition, their inability to offer a clear message despite the formulation of a joint program, and the difficulties faced by candidate Kılıçdaroğlu in persuading large masses determined the fate of the election. Thanks to the strong psychological advantage brought by the first round, Erdogan will secure a greater proportional advantage and win in the second round.

The election campaign has finally boiled down to a debate over the “real” nationalists. It is hardly surprising that nationalism, which has been on the rise globally since former U.S. President Donald Trump’s term, remains critically important in Türkiye – which continues to combat terrorists.

What international media have dubbed “the world’s most important election in 2023” is less than a week away. Whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu wins will have wide-ranging implications.

With less than 20 days before the Turkish elections, the People’s Alliance and the Nation Alliance continue campaigning, believing they are set to win. At the same time, pollsters continue to release numbers supporting both sides’ claim of imminent victory, making the campaign more tense and ambitious.

Terrorist organizations will become more ambitious and voters will grow more concerned unless and until Kılıçdaroğlu publicly pledges to continue the fight against terrorist groups with the same level of determination as the current government. Otherwise, he will face mounting criticism that he could not speak up against terrorists for the sake of “a handful of votes.”

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the opposition bloc’s presidential candidate and chairperson of the Republican People's Party (CHP), released two videos titled “Kurds” and “Alevi” last week. He claimed that “millions of Kurds were treated like terrorists for a few votes” in the first video. In the second, he identified as “Alevi” and called on young people to “tear down this discriminatory system claiming that an Alevi cannot (hold office).”

As the rigid discourse of Turkish and Kurdish leftists merge with the CHP’s ultra-secularism, DEVA, the Felicity Party (SP) and the GP watch from the sidelines and offer a standing ovation.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Tuesday unveiled its election manifesto titled “The Right Steps for the Century of Türkiye.” The 481-page text, which the party painstakingly thought out, comprises six chapters and attaches importance to future projects, ways to improve living standards, and pursuing ambitious goals in foreign policy and national security.

A total of 26 political parties submitted their parliamentary candidate lists to the Supreme Election Council (YSK) on Sunday. They faced criticism over their picks – just like in every other election. Obviously, such lists represent the outcome of vigilant plans that take many different factors into consideration. Such as it is perfectly natural in failing to address all expectations at the grassroots level and for some people to be unhappy.

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.

As Türkiye’s political parties put the final touches on their parliamentary candidate lists, presidential contenders are expected to focus on campaign events after the holidays. At the same time, political debates, rhetorical battles and shows have been getting more intense.

Political parties in Türkiye are working hard to finalize their candidate lists by the April 9 deadline. The relevant committees probably find it more difficult to select candidates today than ever. The already-complex selection process is further complicated by electoral alliances producing joint lists in certain districts and trying to predict how those decisions may influence the allocation of parliamentary seats.

It would seem that HDP has started dominating the opposition bloc with its radical demands as well as marginal discourse.

We are confident that this issue of Insight Turkey entitled “Türkiye at the Crossroads: The 2023 Election” will addresses some of the issues that have been dominating the political agenda lately in Türkiye and we hope and believe that the insightful and stimulating debates raised on the issue will be helpful to our readers.

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.

This article analyzes the approaches of the two major electoral alliances set to compete in the upcoming elections, instead of focusing on each political party’s proposed system of government separately.