It was a few hours after the New Welfare Party (Yeniden Refah Partisi) leader Fatih Erbakan announced that his political-islamist party refused to endorse the ruling People’s Alliance in the elections after meetings with President Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials. Erbakan not only refused to support, but also announced his candidacy for
The date of the elections has been officially announced as May 14, 2023 and the election process has begun. We have less than two months ahead of us. Now that the presidential candidates have been selected, the next step is to prepare and submit the parliamentary lists to the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK). Let us
Fear Not! The election video released by the opposition Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi) on March 12 began with this word on the screen. The date is the 102nd anniversary of the adoption of the National Anthem by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The anthem, written by Mehmet Akif Ersoy and composed by Osman Zeki Üngör
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed the presidential decree to bring the critical presidential and general elections forward to May 14, while the political parties are closing ranks in search of unlikely alliances, as even the smallest parties may have an impact in the head-to-head race. President Erdoğan, on March 10, officially set the election
Türkiye’s right-wing opposition İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener announced on March 3 that she defies the six-party opposition alliance over a presidential candidate, stirring debate that she left the alliance with her harsh tone. “I regret to say that at the point we have reached, the table of six has lost its ability to reflect
The international courtesy visits to Türkiye following the devastating earthquakes that destroyed a dozen cities continue with diplomatic turns. On February 27, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was welcomed by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Adana. Following the 2013 coup in his country, he was the first Egyptian Foreign Minister to visit Türkiye in a
The series of earthquakes that shook Türkiye and snuffed out lives has forced President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Tayyip Erdoğan to change his electoral tactics. Both the impression from the ruling circles in Ankara and Erdoğan’s recent moves and outbursts suggest that the president is preparing to turn the state’s earthquake repair
The February 6 Kahramanmaraş double-earthquake not only shook Türkiye with terrible loss of life and destruction. It also upset the political balance and increased economic uncertainty ahead of a critical election. Politically, President Tayyip Erdoğan and his twenty-odd year old AK Party government have been the most affected by this trauma. Erdoğan has a difficult
Among the contradictions Turkey faces ahead of the crucial 2023 elections is the gap between political activity that is in compliance with the Constitution and “realpolitik,” the German term for “politics in accordance with circumstances, not principles.” This is most evident in the question of whether President and ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) leader
One of the most prominent questions in Turkish public debates about the upcoming 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey is undoubtedly who will be the presidential candidates. Even though President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has not yet announced his candidacy, his name is almost certain for his People’s Alliance. When it comes to the opposition,