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Speaking at party headquarters in Ankara, the leader of Turkey's right-wing IYI Party, Meral Aksener, said the other five parties in the alliance had put forward Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), as their presidential candidate. But Aksener said her party, the second biggest in the alliance, would not "bow down" to pressure to accept him. "It is no longer a platform through which potential candidates can be discussed but a table that works to rubber-stamp a single candidate," she said. "Just like over the past 20 years, the opposition turned out to be President Tayyip Erdogan’s greatest asset," Piccoli wrote. "With the main opposition bloc in disarray, Erdogan is now much better positioned to prevail on 14 May."

[1/2] Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey February 14, 2023. "I don't think it's time to talk about elections," an AKP official told Reuters, citing the state of emergency. He said the priority was to set an election date and get the High Election Board to start preparations. The AKP official expected the disaster to erode votes for the ruling alliance given the suffering, and the loss of life and property. The constitution sets a two-term limit for presidents, but they can seek another term if parliament calls an early election before the second term expires.

The government declared a "level 4 alarm", calling for international assistance, and a three-month state of emergency in the most affected provinces. 'BLACK SWAN'Reconstruction costs are likely to run to many billions of dollars, straining an economy already hit by 58% inflation. The six-party opposition said only that the government should work "without discrimination" to address the disaster that hit regions including Kurdish communities and Syrian refugees. But Ugur Poyraz, Secretary General of centre-right nationalist IYI Party, said he had toured severely hit areas and as of Tuesday morning seen no sign of emergency rescue workers. "The response of Erdogan's government to this natural disaster might shape the attitude of the floating voter but the loyalties of most voters are already determined."

[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.

☆ Explainer: What's at stake in Turkey's upcoming elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

WHAT'S AT STAKE IN THIS ELECTION FOR TURKEY... Opposition parties have pledged to restore central bank independence, bring back parliamentary government and introduce a new constitution enshrining the rule of law. Meanwhile Turkey's top court is hearing a case to shut down the third-largest parliamentary party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and has frozen some of its accounts. Once campaigning starts, opposition parties may find it harder to get their message heard. Though the election deadline is mid-June, Erdogan's party has said they may be brought forward.

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