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☆ Turkish Opposition Disarray Lifts Erdogan's Hopes of Winning Back Istanbul
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

The alliance that helped propel Imamoglu to victory in Istanbul has since collapsed, and his nationalist and pro-Kurdish allies are fielding their own candidates this month. FRAGMENTED OPPOSITIONBut Imamoglu's hopes in Istanbul have been dented by the decision of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party and the Turkish nationalist IYI Party, whose voters supported him in 2019, to field their own candidates. Metropoll's latest survey showed support for Imamoglu among Kurdish voters had declined to 32% last month from 35% in January. Support among IYI party voters fell to 45% from 64%. Imamoglu has accused central government of hampering his delivery of services in Istanbul since 2019.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan's, Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan, Imamoglu, pollsters MAK, Murat Kurum, pollster Murat Gezici, Kurum, Sencar, pollsters Metropoll, Imamoglu's, Ertan Aksoy, Canan Sevgili, Daren Butler, Gareth Jones Organizations: Birsen Altayli, AK Party, CHP, AKP, DEM Party, Turkish, IYI Party, Aksoy Research Locations: Birsen, Birsen Altayli ISTANBUL, Istanbul, Turkey's, Israel, Gaza, Ankara, Turkish, Imamoglu's, Turkey

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu attends a swearing-in ceremony as he is accompanied by Ozgur Ozel at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/file photo Acquire Licensing RightsANKARA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Sunday elected Ozgur Ozel as its new leader, ending a 13-year term for incumbent Kemal Kilicdaroglu, as the country gears up for local elections next March. Ozel, 49, has been serving as the CHP's deputy parliamentary group chairman since 2015 and has been a lawmaker since 2011. Ozel, a pharmacist by trade, received 812 of 1,366 possible votes at a tense, hours-long party congress in Ankara that took two rounds. Imamoglu supported Ozel in a push for change at the CHP that has long been bogged down by in-fighting.

Persons: Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Ozgur Ozel, Umit, Tayyip Erdogan, Ozel, Kilicdaroglu, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Imamoglu, Erdogan, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Ozer Sencar, pollster Metropoll, Sencar, Daniel Wallis, Hugh Lawson, David Evans Organizations: Republican People's Party, Turkish, REUTERS, Rights, Sunday, Istanbul Mayor, CHP, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Rights ANKARA, Ozel, Istanbul, Black Sea, Rize, Turkey's

☆ Erdogan intent on taking back Istanbul after presidential victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stretched his rule into a third decade after Sunday’s presidential election victory. Are you ready to win both Uskudar (a large district in Istanbul) and Istanbul in the local elections in 2024? Then let’s not stop.”By winning back Istanbul, Erdogan means having it governed by a mayor from his Justice and Development (AK) Party. Before beginning his term as prime minister in 2003, Erdogan was himself mayor of Istanbul between 1994 and 1998. The opposition beat Erdogan by nearly three points in both Istanbul and Ankara in Sunday’s presidential runoff.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, ” Erdogan, Ekrem Imamoglu, Imamoglu, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Berk, “ Imamoglu, ” Esen, you’ve, you’re, ” Imamoglu, ”, MetroPoll, Erdogan “, Soner Cagaptay, ” Cagaptay, Canan Kaftancioglu, Esen, “, Turkey ’ Organizations: CNN, Uskudar, ”, Istanbul, Development, Party, Welfare Party, AK Party –, Republican People’s Party, Sabanci University, “, Analysts, Electoral, Rights Watch, Washington Institute for Near East, Foreign Affairs, Union of Chambers, Commodity Exchanges, Erdogan’s Locations: Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, Turkish, Ankara, Sunday’s, CHP’s Istanbul, Izmir, Erdogan’s Istanbul, Turkey

Kilicdaroglu, chair of the secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), received 44.9% in what was seen as the biggest electoral challenge to Erdogan's 20-year rule. A third candidate, nationalist Sinan Ogan, obtained 5.17% and both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu are expected to seek his endorsement in negotiations this week. Turkey hosts the world's largest refugee population of around 4 million, according to official figures. Supporters of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition alliance, rally outside the Republican People's Party (CHP) headquarters on election night in Ankara, Turkey May 14, 2023. In Wednesday's video, Kilicdaroglu also accused Erdogan of cooperating with the network Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

Reuters interviews with Kar and a dozen other voters in Antakya reflected anger over what some viewed as a slow initial government response to the disaster. The voices are a small snapshot of Antakya and the wider area of southern Turkey hit by the earthquake, a region home to nine million voters and traditionally an Erdogan stronghold. Only 4.3% of voters viewed the quake as Turkey's biggest problem last month, with most more concerned by an economy racked by rampant inflation. Nearby, excavators resound as they demolish some of the 80-90% of buildings estimated to have suffered quake damage. The opposing sides present very different narratives about Erdogan and his government's response to the disaster.

☆ Turkey general election 2023 guide: what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And even if Kilicdaroglu wins the election, some analysts say Erdogan may not hand over power to his successor without a struggle. Here’s what you need to know about the vote that could become a pivotal moment in Turkey’s modern history:How Turkey’s elections workTurkey holds elections every five years. Parliamentary elections take place at the same time as the presidential elections. Four candidates are running for this year’s presidential election. CHP Istanbul mayor candidate Ekrem Imamoglu then went on to win the election re-run, dealing a blow to Erdogan.

[1/4] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine Erdogan, greets the audience during a meeting of his ruling AK Party to announce the party's election manifesto ahead of the May 14 elections, in Ankara, Turkey April 11, 2023. Erdogan is facing the biggest political challenge since his AK Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, with polls showing support sagging in recent years after unorthodox economic policies hobbled the lira currency and sent inflation surging. Erdogan said last week a team was working on strengthening economic policies under the coordination of former economic tsar Mehmet Simsek, who is well respected by international investors. In the presidential election next month, Erdogan will be up against the main opposition alliance candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. On foreign policy, Erdogan said the AKP would continue normalizing relations in the region and aim to build an "axis of Turkey".

"The fundamental consequence of Ince's (candidacy) is sending the elections to a second round," Panoramatr research director Osman Sert told Reuters. "But even if there is such a meltdown it would not prevent the election going to a second round," Sert said. POLITICAL STABILITYIf no presidential candidate gets more than 50% in the May 14 vote, the top two would compete in a second round two weeks later. Data from closely-watched pollster Metropoll showed Ince and undecided voters would determine the presidential vote, its head Ozer Sencar said. Among voters opposed to Erdogan, some voice dissatisfaction with the diverse main opposition alliance, partly as it includes parties led by former Erdogan allies and an Islamist party.

The polls also show the opposition bloc, called the Nation Alliance, leading the parliamentary race, at least six points ahead of Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) and its allies. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) remains comfortably above 10%. A poll conducted on March 6-7 by Alf Research showed Kilicdaroglu at 55.1% and Erdogan on 44.9%. Piar Research showed Kilicdaroglu winning with 57.1%, with Erdogan lagging on 42.9%. ORC Research showed Kilicdaroglu ahead with 56.8% and Erdogan on 43.2%, according to a poll conducted on March 4-6, before Kilicdaroglu was officially announced as the opposition candidate.

[1/2] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses lawmakers of his AK Party during a meeting in parliament in Ankara, Turkey, January 18, 2023. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) also condemned the incidents in Sweden and said they would serve Erdogan's re-election campaign. But Erdogan said this week that Sweden could no longer expect Turkey's support for its NATO bid, and Ankara cancelled a planned trilateral meeting. Washington, Stockholm and Helsinki had hoped Ankara would ratify the NATO bids before Turkey's election. While Erdogan's government backs the Nordics' NATO bid with conditions, his political opponents had been more supportive - before the Stockholm incidents.

The headscarf was once a source of deep discord in Muslim but secular Turkey, but ceased to stir controversy after reforms by the Islamist-rooted AKP during its 20 years in power. "We are ready to take other steps including a referendum," Erdogan told AKP deputies in parliament. The AKP was to hold talks with three opposition parties, including the largest Republican People's Party (CHP), broadcaster CNN Turk said. When Leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu announced the CHP's planned legislation on the headscarf in early October, Erdogan responded by saying the issue had already been resolved. Erdogan and AKP lawmakers have toughened their rhetoric against LGBT+ people in recent years, frequently labeling them "deviants" or "perverts" and raising concerns among members of the community.

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